Walking a Tightrope
by Berserkerlord
Summary: A single engine malfunctioning when it shouldn't have can lead to all sorts of unintended consequences. Unintended consequences like rediscovering a species thought to have gone extinct? Yes dear reader, precisely those types of consequences. So let us see how things play out when there's an extra pawn on the board. "I object, I'm at least a bishop." Hahaha, you wish.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Well my friends, it's been quite some time since I last tried my hand at publishing fanfiction. For reasons I won't bother to go into right now (or possibly ever) I decided that I might as well give it another try, to see if I've improved at all. Feedback is welcome, of course, but please try and keep things polite, being on the internet is no need to abandon proper manners, and it is best to maintain a sense of decorum even when doing something like leaving a review on a fanfiction site. A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't say something to someone's face, it probably isn't a good idea to say it on the internet.**

 **At the moment I'll be rating this as T, since I don't really plan to go into anything that would warrant an M rating, but that is liable to change if I decide that an increase in rating is necessary. Also, I might decide to make some edits to the story as I go along, so for now I'll be tentatively titling this Version 1 of this chapter, and updating the version if I make any future edits.**

 **But without further ado, here is my story. It is my sincerest hope that you will enjoy it.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 1 (V. 1)**

* * *

 **Unknown Space 73 BBY**

Koshiv Chiida was many things, a native of the planet Diyogos, and at the age of 16, he was one of the youngest Jedi to ever achieve a significant degree of skill using force precognition, and it was generally assumed by many amongst the order that he would rise to the rank of Seer rather quickly, once he had attained the rank of Knight. The young human was also considered one of the more approachable Jedi by some of the locals who owned shops around the Jedi Temple, and the long, dark haired boy was often seen wandering the streets outside of the Temple. He had been scolded for such activity before, but he had simply responded that it was important to feel the Force flow around him, and there were few better ways to immerse oneself in that flow than to be surrounded by people.

However, at the moment Padawan Chiida was cursing wildly as red warning lights began to blare throughout the cockpit of his small transport shuttle and the blurred streaks of hyperspace was suddenly replaced by the star-studded void of real space. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." He swore as his hands began to fly around the control panel. The panel which led to the main body of the ship slid open and several low-pitched beeps joined the blaring alarm sirens as an R2 droid wheeled in.

R2-S1 had been sent to him as a gift from his parents after they had heard about him reaching the rank of Padawan, normally contact with family was discouraged for Jedi, but most of them did still occasionally write home or contact their families, it was the sort of rule that everybody knew was broken on a fairly regular basis, but everyone knew that there was no real harm in doing it, since Padawans tended to grow out of it as they aged, and Knights tended to keep their communications to family limited to only a handful a year. R2-S1 was primarily white, with red highlights for most of his finer detailing, the little droid had also developed quite an attitude, since Chiida had decided against wiping the little droid's memories.

"I know you told me not to use this old route S1, but we needed to get back to Coruscant fast, and I was told that it…was…safe..." Chiida said his voice trailing off as he finally managed to get the alarms shut off, the sudden silence in the cockpit as the young Padawan felt a strong presence in the Force, a presence the likes of which he had never felt before in his entire life. R2-S1 beeped inquisitively as he noticed his master's sudden silence. "I'm not sure what it is S1." He said as reached out and slowly began to turn his shuttle around. "Are you sure that this Route was completely devoid of star systems?" He asked, and S1 beeped affirmatively. "Well you're going to want to update your maps, little buddy." He said as he finished turning his ship, light flooding into the cockpit as it was now pointed towards a bright yellow star. Several planets orbited the star, but the one that Chiida's eyes immediately focused on was the second one out from the star. He had never felt such a strong presence in the Force before, but what was odd was that it seemed unusually mixed, from what he had experienced most places tended to be strong in either the Light or Dark Sides of the Force, and yet this planet seemed to be a mix of the two.

"What could that be?" He asked as he closed his eyes and reached out through the Force towards the planet. However shortly after he did so he slumped back in his chair and R2-S1 trilled apprehensively, recognizing the sign of his master going into one of his vision trances.

Luckily it was only a few minutes before the young Padawan was roused from his trance, groaning like a man with a hangover as he held his head in his hands. He took a few deep breaths before swiveling his chair and leaning forward to place a hand on S1's dome. "S1, I need you to record these coordinates and the route we took to get here. But you must keep them a secret, and not let anyone know that we found this place." He said gravely, the little astromech beeped curiously, but Chiida simply shook his head in response. "No, not even if Master Yoda himself asks. What I just saw…this place has a role to play in both our futures, and the future of the galaxy, but its time has not come yet. Now, go and get working on the engine to see if you can fix that malfunction, the Council will probably want to know that we managed the find the child they were looking for so they can dispatch a knight to bring him into the order." He said with a smile as he turned back to gaze at the odd planet.

Roughly an hour later the ship once again jumped into hyperspace, with a smiling Padawan nestled in the chair in its cockpit, thinking of things that were to come.

* * *

 **Coruscant: The Jedi Temple 50 BBY**

The years had been rather kind to Padawan Chiida, or as he was now known, Seer Chiida. He had cut his long, black hair much shorter, and there were a few streaks of gray starting to show in his hair, but other than that he looked remarkably similar to how he had looked as a young man, one of the few differences was that his face had become much sharper and gaunter as his years of physical training had stripped away the baby fat that had once given him a youthful, boyish appearance.

Currently the 39-year-old seer was sitting on a few crates in one of the hangars of the Jedi Temple, watching as R2-S1 pulled a few pieces of luggage up the ramp onto a small shuttle. He didn't even turn his head as he heard the sound of a cane striking the floor.

"Seer Chiida, though I would find you here, I did." Came the raspy voice of Master Yoda, followed by the diminutive alien's typical chuckle. The sound of the elderly master's voice brought a small smile to Chiida's face as the esteemed Jedi effortlessly hopped up onto the box despite his advanced age and sat next to Chiida. "Forseen this, you have. Know why I'm here, you must." He said, his voice becoming much more somber as his gaze fixed ahead.

"Mhm." He grunted as he nodded slightly. "It wouldn't have taken the Force to predict that the council would eventually grow tired of me. But ever my most ardent opponents cannot accuse me of falling to the Dark Side, so I suppose exile was the only option." Chiida said with a shrug. "I can see where they're coming from, I have no illusions about how badly it could go if I were to teach someone who did not possess the proper mindset."

"Hmmmm. An idea of where you will go, you already have?" Yoda asked before chuckling as S1 lost its grip on one of the crates it was hauling, causing it to slide back down the ramp and making the little droid let out what would have been a flurry of expletives if it had been capable of speaking Basic. He raised one hand and the fallen crate lifted up and set itself down at the top of the ramp, and S1 extended one of its mechanical 'arms' and waved in thanks to Yoda.

"I do, a planet I came across as a Padawan, I never told anyone else of it, but it is strong in the Force. I believe it would be a good day to spend my time." He said in a low voice so that only he and Yoda could hear. It felt good to finally let the secret be known to someone, even though he always suspected that Yoda had known that he had kept something from the council during his mission debriefing all those years ago. "This won't be the last time we meet, I have foreseen it, and you know what that means." He whispered, and Yoda only nodded in response.

"Echoes, I have felt. On the horizon, a great shadow looms. Prepare the future generations, we must. For it is they who shall face the worst of this threat." He muttered as the two Jedi finally turned to look at one another. Yoda placed a hand on Chiida's arm and smiled as the younger Jedi mimicked the gesture.

"The new batch of apprentices you are instructing seem like they will make fine Jedi one day. Especially that Kenobi boy, I sense a fire in him that the Order will need if it is to persevere." Chiida said as he met Master Yoda's eyes. His own gaze softened, he had not been close with many Jedi in the order, but Master Yoda had always been a source of wisdom and stability in even the most trying times, and despite his best efforts he was still sad to know that he would not see the kindly Master for a long time.

"Seen a portion of your own future, I have. A good teacher, you will make, young Chiida." Yoda said, his voice regaining some of its levity, he let out another chuckle as he saw Chiida's eyes widen in surprise. "Go now, waiting for you, your droid is." He said, and his statement was accompanied by a flurry of indignant beeps and boops as S1 stomped on the loading ramp to the shuttle with one of his legs.

"Thank you, Master Yoda, may the Force be with you." He said as he stood up from the stack of crates and made his way towards his shuttle. He turned around and gave the elderly Master one more wave before raising the ramp and heading towards the catwalk. Soon the ship rose and rocketed off into the orange twilight of Coruscant, quickly joining the stream of ships that constantly went to and from the planet, until he was just another pair of glowing exhaust ports in a sea of them.

Master Yoda sat on the crates for a few more hours, lost in thought, until eventually he hopped down and began to make his way back into the temple. It would soon be time for the Apprentices to have their evening lessons, and he couldn't leave them waiting.

* * *

 **Several Days Later**

Koshiv Chiida took a deep breath to steady himself as he sat down cross legged in a small forest clearing. It had been easy enough to find the planet once again with S1's coordinates, and as he had approached it he had seen the buildings which he had seen in his vision so long ago. Towering spires and sprawling cities dotted the surface of the planet, although most of the cities were isolated by nature, like islands of civilization amongst an otherwise untamed planet. He had landed his ship in a small clearing outside of one of the cities, he knew that he had been spotted, he had seen several fighters trailing his ship ever since he had entered the planet's atmosphere. He had put on his finest pair of white Jedi robes, and had gone outside to await whoever would inevitably be sent to meet him. He had set his lightsaber down on the ground in front of him and sat, meditating quietly.

His meditation was soon disturbed by the sounds of several people running through the forest towards him. He opened his eyes just in time to see several armored and helmeted figures emerge from the trees, several were aiming blasters at him, but more of note were the sabers which hung at the hilt of nearly every figure. He fought down a twinge of fear as one of the figures strode forward, drawing its saber and igniting it, causing a crimson blade to spring to life as it removed its helmet with one hand, even though he had seen this scene play out hundreds of times in his dreams and memories, the visage beneath still surprised him. The face beneath it was as red as blood, with prominent cheekbones and glowing yellow eyes. "Jedi." He said, his tone slightly fearful as he glanced down at the lightsaber that lay before Chiida.

In response to this Chiida bowed his head. "I have come in peace. I seek nothing other than refuge. Take me to your leaders and I shall explain what has brought me here." He said, slightly surprised at the man's grasp on Galactic Basic, he had assumed that he would be dealing with a more archaic dialect, this would warrant a few questions, provided he made it out of this alive. He slowly reached out his hand and used the Force to push his lightsaber towards the red-skinned man. The red-skinned alien reached down tentatively and took it, strapping it to his hip before nodding.

"Very well, but do not make any suspicious moves, Jedi. We have little reason to trust your kind." At the man's words Chiida only nodded before standing up. And walking behind the man as the rest of the armored troopers formed up around him and they began to make their way towards the nearby city.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there everybody, here again with yet another chapter of Walking a Tightrope. Unfortunately my schedule is far from consistent, so you shouldn't expect every new chapter to be as quick as this one, since I'll only really be able to work on them on weekends.**

 **But while you're waiting for a new chapter I will also be suggesting things that you can read/watch in the meanwhile. This chapter's suggestion is SF Debris, an excellent reviewer who mostly reviews Science-Fiction related materials, he does reviews of Star Trek, Babylon 5, and even has a few reviews up for various episodes of The Clone Wars series, so check him out, I highly recommend him.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 2 (V. 1)**

* * *

 **Unknown Space 50 BBY**

Once Chiida had been escorted away from the clearing where he had landed his ship he was ushered into a small transport, which soon lifted off and shot towards the city, heading directly towards the large, metallic spire which loomed in the center of the city.

"Attention tower, this is transport Fifteen, we have taken the individual into custody and are bringing him in. We request that you inform the elder of our arrival, we'll be in her office shortly." The helmetless man said, and by now it was quite clear that he was in charge of this small group.

"This is the command tower, you are cleared to land at the secondary hangar. We will inform the elder of your arrival." A voice responded, crackling through the speakers, yet even through that distortion the nervousness in the voice was clear.

The shuttle pulled into a hangar roughly halfway up the tower, and Chiida was quickly escorted to an elevator. Only he and the unmasked guard stepped in, and the guard quickly pressed a series of buttons on a pad, causing the doors to hiss shut and the elevator to rocket up at a remarkable pace.

"You aren't concerned about being the only one to guard me on the way up?" Chiida asked curiously as he raised a brow. The guard simply shook his head.

"We are heading directly to the elder's offices, even if you managed to subdue me and regain your lightsaber you wouldn't last half a minute against her." He responded, and for the first time a small grin seemed to spread across his face. "Besides, unless the Jedi have changed drastically, I doubt you'd be willing to make the first move."

"I suppose you're right on that count, although I wonder if an exiled Jedi can be considered a 'proper' Jedi if the exile was partially voluntary." Chiida mused as the doors slid open and they stepped out into a waiting room. The room was rectangular and lined with couches, the floor was covered with a thick, red carpet, presumably this was some sort of waiting room for visitors. At the opposite end of the room stood two guards, who were clad in red, plated armor and wielding odd looking polearms, he recognized it vaguely from a book about old weapons that he had read once, it was a Lanvarok.

"The elder awaits." One of the them said, their voice artificially deepened by the filters on their helmet, making it impossible to tell whether the speaker was a man or woman. The two guards stood aside and the door slid open, and Chiida was led inside.

The room that they entered was very sparsely decorated, there was a large, round table which dominated the center of the room, and judging by its surface it was probably meant to display holographic images. The opposite wall was a massive window, which looked out over the city, and a simple wooden desk and chair sat in front of the window. There were a few potted plants scattered around, but other than that there was no ornamentation, even the white walls were completely bare. It was clear that this was a room meant for work and nothing else.

Sitting at the desk was an old, red skinned woman wearing simple, black robes. Her gray hair was pulled back into a bun and she had steepled her fingers together was peering over them at Chiida, her yellow gaze completely unflinching.

The former Seer shifted uncomfortably as his guard walked over to stand by the woman's side and handed her his lightsaber. She took it and her gaze finally broke from Chiida's as she looked down and turned it over in her hands a few times, before igniting it, causing its sky-blue blade to spring out.

"Thank you, Kaval, you did your duty well, but you may leave us for now, I am in no danger from this Jedi." She said, her voice sounding remarkably smooth, it was odd to hear such a youthful sounding voice coming from such a wrinkled, elderly face. Kaval simply nodded before quickly leaving the room.

The elderly woman turned the lightsaber off and placed it on her desk, before motioning for Chiida to come forward, which he did, walking around the rim of the projection table so that he could stand in front of her desk.

"…You know what we are." The woman said bluntly as her gaze returned to Chiida and he nodded uncomfortably.

"You're Sith." He said, and he silently wondered why his voice suddenly sounded so quiet. "At least, biologically, you are." He said, seeking to fill the silence.

At his response, the old woman let out a short laugh. "It seems you've got a bit of a brain between your ears, good. That means we might actually let you live. So tell me, young man, what exactly brings a Jedi to our planet, which we have kept so carefully hidden for so long?"

"Well, I am Chiida, a seer of the Jedi, or at least I was. This all began several years ago…" Chiida said before launching into his story, about how his ship's engine had malfunctioned and how he had stumbled upon the planet, how he had sensed its great presence in the Force, how he had foreseen that its inhabitants would have a role to play in the fate of the galaxy, and how he had been exiled from the Jedi for his teachings. It was at the mention of his exile that the woman raised a brow.

"And what exactly was it about these teachings that the Jedi found so objectionable?" She asked curiously. Chiida flushed in response, this woman reminded him of many of the stricter instructors back at the Temple, and it had been a long time since he had been in the presence of someone who made him feel so young and inexperienced.

"Well, as you may have guessed I am skilled in the art of perceiving the future through the Force. It is hard for me to perceive fine details, but general trends are easier, and I have been able to see the ebb and flow of the Light and Dark sides for centuries to come, although the farther I go into the future, the more imprecise my predictions. However regardless of when I look, I always come to a point far, far in the future, possibly millions of years from now, where I can perceive nothing. I am unsure of what that means, it could mean that it is the limit of my abilities, and I simply cannot see any farther than that, it could mean that the Force itself dies at some point. But regardless, when I considered the latter possibility I began to wonder what that would mean. If the conflict between Light and Dark will ultimately be rendered meaningless by the death of the Force itself. The history of the Jedi has many instances where we stood by and let others suffer for fear of falling to the Dark side, but I proposed that if the struggle between Light and Dark is meaningless, then we must instead focus on doing good, and only be concerned about falling to the Dark because that will lead to suffering for others." He explained before sighing wearily. "As you can imagine, that wasn't exactly a popular theory, I had quite a few people call to lock me up in a cell, thinking I had gone mad, and perhaps they were right." He said before noticing that a smile had spread across the old woman's face. "What are you smiling about?"

She only chuckled softly in response and shook her head slightly. "My boy, had you been born amongst us you would have made a fine Sith." She said as she stood, and Chiida was surprised to see that she was only about five feet tall, a fool foot shorter than himself, she had projected so much power when sitting down that he had failed to actually take note of her height and had thought she was taller than she actually was.

"Come, young Chiida, and let me show you something. You have told me your story, so I suppose it is only appropriate that you know ours." She said as she walked towards the projection table and tapped on a few buttons. "Request acknowledged, please provide vocal sample." A robotic voice said, projecting from a small speaker in the table. "Elder Qonu Zeama, of Fortaz." There was a pause for a few seconds before the robotic voice responded. "Elder Qonu of Fortaz city, recognized, you are cleared to view this message."

The holographic display suddenly sprang to life and a grainy projection suddenly sprang to life. It was of a Sith, and judging from the ornate robes he was wearing a very influential one. This Sith also had the facial tendrils that Chiida noted were absent from most of the Sith that he had seen.

"This is Prophet Telas, if you are seeing this message, then hopefully you are one of my people and we have found a safe planet we can call home, and you are simply viewing this for historical purposes. If not, then I must assume that my people have died and implore you to not replicate our folly. The Sith Empire is dying, I can feel it when I walk the streets, the fire is gone and soon we will be swallowed by the Republic. We thought ourselves strong, but in our arrogance, we did not see the rot which was eroding us from within. The Dark side has fractured us, led to us stabbing each other in the back for power while we ignored the threats around us. It was folly to give ourselves wholly to one side of the force, and now we are paying the price. But though the Empire is perishing, we cannot perish with it. I have gathered my followers together from all corners of the Empire and we are prepared to depart. My agents have told me that the Republic will push against our borders, and this time I know they will break through. In the chaos we will depart, and find a home for ourselves, we will hide, and hopefully the galaxy will forget us. Do not look to the Dark or the Light, my children, the path which we must walk is a tightrope between the two. Both sides will tempt you, but you must remain vigilant, in the balance we will find the strength and wisdom to persevere. The Force is one with us all." He said before bowing his head, and the holograph flickered off.

"Telas was wise to tell that the Empire was dying. When it finally collapsed he and his followers fled, tens of thousands of humans and Sith departed from the Empire and we made our way to this region of space, where some of us had foreseen a sanctuary. It was then that we found this planet, and we named it Uostas, haven, in our tongue. We have remained hidden for centuries, only occasionally do we send out scouts to keep track on the state of the Galaxy, and to pick up translators so that we can learn proper Galactic Basic in addition to the language of the Sith. Over time the humans and Sith interbred to the point that now nobody is purely Sith, but there is also nobody who is purely human, although we do retain most of the appearance of our Sith ancestors, and we have kept their name." Qonu said as she turned to face Chiida. "Now do you see why I smiled? Your teachings of moderation between the Light and Dark are quite similar to what we strive for, to maintain a balance between the two so that we might mask the weaknesses of one with the strengths of the other." She said before tapping a few more buttons and the images of several other Sith sprang up, each one of them dressed similarly to Qonu. She bowed to the rest of them, and they returned the gesture. "So, young Chiida, let us see if the rest of the honored elders will agree with my assessment of you." She said, a playful sparkle in her eye.

* * *

 **Uostas 26 BBY**

Luckily for Koshiv Chiida it seemed that most of the other elders were willing to give him a chance to live amongst them, although he would naturally be kept under watch for a period of time to make sure that his intentions were genuine. He was allowed to live in the house of Kaval Zeama, the guard who had led the team who retrieved him. Apparently, Kaval was actually the son of Elder Qonu, although it was also clear that he had earned his position as head of the Elder's guard through skill rather than nepotism. In fact, it seemed like he had actually had to work harder to get where he was than anyone else, since Qonu expected the best from her son. Kaval's wife, Sitras was a very accommodating woman, with long, dark hair and very delicate features. She had mostly taken up the responsibility of teaching Chiida about the history of the Sith ever since they had arrived on Uostas, although she had to take a break from this responsibility after she became pregnant several years later.

The resulting baby, who they had named Nitai, was an absolute bundle of energy, and as he grew up he had quickly become fascinated by the stories that Chiida would tell him about the rest of the galaxy. Like most of his species, Nitai also quickly displayed the ability to use the Force, and after some negotiating with his parents on the boy's behalf, it was decided that in addition to the typical instruction he would receive at school, he would also receive training from "Uncle Chiida," as the exiled Jedi was affectionately referred to by the young Sith.

The boy was now ten years old, and Chiida watched with a slight smile on his face as Nitai used the Force to manipulate several rocks as part of a training exercise. They were currently out in the yard behind the white, two story, wooden house that the Zeama's occupied. The task itself wasn't that difficult on its own, the challenge came from the fact that R2-S1 was using his mechanical arms to toss pebbles at Nitai, who had to keep moving to avoid them while manipulating his own rocks.

"Alright, Nitai, I think that's enough for today." He said, as Nitai thankfully dropped the rocks, however while the young Sith was standing there and catching his breath he was hit in the cheek by a pebble, causing him to glare at S1 as the little dried laughed, or at least that's what he assumed the rapid low-pitched beeping to be.

"You're advancing rather quickly. I hope you haven't been staying up all night again." He said, and Nitai's face darkened, the relatively subtle sign of a Sith blushing. "I've told you, you're still young, you've got plenty of time to learn this, but going without sleep just isn't healthy." Chiida said as he shook his head slightly. Nitai wasn't a natural with the Force by any means, he was rather average for a Sith. However, one thing that did set Nitai apart from his peers was his relentless drive to improve and his seemingly unflappable nature, even when he failed he just got right back up again and started trying again immediately, with none of the hesitation or despair that some other students might feel. It was actually quite refreshing for Chiida to see a student who was so eager not only to learn, but to correct his own mistakes.

"I know, it's just that sometimes the time gets away from me, and I've been so excited ever since grandmother said she'd talk to the other elders about our request." He said, causing Chiida to chuckle. Ever since Nitai had been old enough to speak he'd been asking about if he could go off planet, in particular he wanted to join the Jedi Order, not necessarily to become a Jedi, but so that he could learn everything that they could teach him. Recently Chiida had gone to Qonu and had asked her to propose the idea to the rest of the elders who led the Sith.

"Speaking of your request, guess what I discussed in our meeting today?" A familiar voice said from behind him, causing Chiida to jump.

"Gaah! How many times have I told you to stop doing that?" He asked as he spun around, his eyes quickly focusing on the familiar grinning face of Qonu. The old woman was a master at masking her presence in the Force, and had a rather nasty habit of showing up right behind people in order to frighten them.

"Grandma!" Nitai chirped happily as he ran towards the elderly Sith and practically tackled her, wrapping his arms around her and tilting his head back to look up at her. "So, what did they say, can I go, can I go, can I go?" He asked, practically bouncing in place.

"Calm down Nitai, hop any more and they'll feel you on the other side of the planet." She laughed as she placed a hand on the young boy's head, running it through his long, dark hair. "They said that they will let you join, but only under certain conditions. The first of which is that you can only go once Chiida thinks that you're ready. There are a few other provisions, but other than that they have approved your request. And you'd better be thankful, I had to pull a lot of favors to get this approved." She said as she pinched Nitai's cheek playfully. Chiida was certain that was true, the Sith were always nervous about the possibility of being rediscovered, they were the last of a species that had historically been a thorn in the side of the Republic, and nobody was certain that if they were to reveal themselves, that they would be treated fairly and equally.

"Yes! Did you hear that uncle Chiida?" Nitai said excitedly as he separated from his grandmother before then running over to S1. "I'm going to go to space, S1!" He said excitedly as the astromech chirped in response. "I've got to go tell mom and dad!" He said before running towards the back door of his house and heading inside, his excited shouting still vaguely audible through the walls.

"The Jedi are going to have their hands full with him." Chiida said with a slight chuckle before turning back to Qonu. "But you didn't just want him to go out in order to see the world, did you? There's something more to this."

Qonu just smiled. "First impressions can be very important, I think Nitai would be a good introduction for us, even if the galaxy doesn't know just who they're being introduced to at first."

"I'll do my best to prepare him, but once he's out there it will be all on him. But it's getting late, why not stay for dinner? Sitras is cooking tonight." He suggested.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, my son's decent, but Sitras could bring the dead back to life with her food." Qonu said with a smile as the two walked towards the house.

* * *

 **Uostas 22 BBY**

"Yes, I made sure to say goodbye to everybody at the academy." Nitai said as his mother fussed with his robes. He was standing along with Chiida, his parents, and his grandmother, in one of the main hangars of the spire, with Chiida's ship docked behind him. "I thought we would need a crowbar to get Batek off of me."

Nitai had aged rather well, and was something of an object of desire for several of his female classmates at the academy. His physical training regimen had stripped most of the fat from his body and he had the sleek, muscular build of a runner. Like most Sith he also possessed naturally sharp and well-defined features that gave him an almost predatory look, which was generally considered a plus in the minds of most Sith. He had cut his hair short and it was pulled back from his face, letting his yellow eyes stand in stark contrast to the crimson hue of his skin. He'd stood about five and a half feet tall, which quite above average for his age. More frustratingly though, he had picked up his grandmother's habit of suddenly showing up behind people

"Well make sure you write home to tell us how you're doing, and don't cause too much trouble for the Jedi." Sitras said as she straightened back up, trying, and failing, to look like she wasn't about to cry.

"Are you certain you don't want to go with him?" Kaval asked Chiida as they watched Qonu make sure that Nitai remembered the cover story they had rehearsed to explain his appearance to the Jedi. The older Zeama's once dark hair had started to gray rather quickly, mostly due to the stress of his job, but aside from that he looked remarkably similar to how he had when he and Chiida had first met all those years ago, that seemed to be a shared trait amongst the Zeamas.

"I'm certain, I'm still exiled. Besides, it's a long way to go just to drop him off and come back, and it will be good for him to make this trip on his own." Chiida said as he saw Nitai approach them.

"I'm going to miss you two." Nitai said, his eyes getting misty as he wrapped his arms around his father and surrogate uncle. The hug lasted for nearly a full minute before he separated and went to make his way up the ramp that led into the shuttle.

"Oh wait, one more thing." Chiida called as he kicked R2-S1's leg. "I think it's a shame that S1's been stuck on one planet for so long. So take him along with you, it'll get him to actually do his job for a change." He said as the astromech beeped indignantly before wheeling up the ramp to sit beside Nitai. In truth the idea had actually been S1's, but Chiida knew that the little droid was far too prideful to suggest such a thing on his own.

"I'll make sure to take good care of him." Nitai said with a smile as he few tears escaped the corners of his eyes, happy that he would have at least one friend with him on his journey. He waved to his family as the ramp closed and he headed to the cockpit, firing up the engine with a button presses before lifting off and shooting out of the spire and up into the sky. It didn't take long before he was no longer staring at a blue sky, but rather the inky void of space.

"S1, set coordinates for Coruscant, it's gonna be a long trip." He said, the astromech beeped and began inputting coordinates, and for the first time ever, he saw space stretch out before him as his ship jumped into Hyperspace, the black void quickly being replaced by streaks of blue and white. He stared at the mesmerizing sight for hours, until eventually he fell asleep in his chair, probably not the most dignified way to spend one's first night in space, but it was a night he would remember vividly for the rest of his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well folks, here's the latest chapter, and the conclusion to the setup, next chapter we'll be diving into the series proper.**

 **Today's recommendation is Rocked Reviews, a music reviewer on Youtube who primarily reviews Rock albums. Of particular note are two of his series, Regretting The Past, where he looks at Rock albums that were incredibly popular/successful but which, in hindsight, really didn't deserve that success, and Billboard Gets Rocked, a monthly series where he looks at the top 10 most popular Rock songs in the country as reported by the Billboard Rock charts.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 3 (V. 1)**

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 **Coruscant 22 BBY**

Nitai was practically bouncing in his seat as he gazed with wide, awestruck eyes at the massive number of ships streaming towards Coruscant. There were so many that he was fairly certain that if all of the stars in the sky were to go out nobody on Coruscant would notice, due to how many glowing lights there were coming from the ships' thrusters.

He had talked only a few moments ago with one of the numerous space port control officers and requested a landing pad near the Jedi temple, now he was idling around in orbit waiting for a response, and he didn't have to wait long.

"Shuttle, you are cleared for landing at dock 178, pad B, I am sending you the coordinates now." A voice crackled through the speakers and Nitai smiled as the location showed up on his projected map, it was easily within walking distance of the Jedi temple, or at least what he assumed was walking distance. Chiida had warned him about how crowded and confusing the streets of Coruscant were, mostly due to how many different layers there were. "Thanks, control, I'm making my way there now."

He punched the coordinates into the navicomputer and set the shuttle to autopilot as it made the descent through the atmosphere of Coruscant. As got up from his chair S1 wheeled into the room and bumped into his leg.

"Huh, what is it S1?" He asked, and the white and red droid scooted back before projecting a small hologram of master Chiida.

"Nitai, I instructed S1 to give you this message once you reached Coruscant. I know that you had to leave your training sabers back home, and you have yet to construct your own lightsaber, so I figured that I might as well give you another gift to celebrate your departure." He said, and a small hatch opened up in the front of S1's body, and one of his mechanical arms popped out, clutching a very familiar lightsaber. Nitai tentatively reached out, as if afraid that it would dissolve into smoke if he touched it, and his fingers wrapped around the well-worn metal hilt. He raised it and ignited the blade, its light blue blade springing to life. He then deactivated it and bowed to the projection of Chiida. "Thank you master." The projection only chuckled in response. "There's no need to thank a recorded message Nitai, and before you ask, no I didn't use the Force to foresee that, I just know you too well. I want you to take S1 with you to meet with the Council, I have a message for them that should ease some of their worries regarding taking a student of mine into the fold. Also, try not to drive the masters too crazy, but feel free to try and inject some life into them, they could use a kick in the backside every now and again, keeps them on their toes." The young Sith's face darkened slightly with embarrassment as the projection ended and he strapped the saber to his right hip.

It took only took about a quarter of an hour for the ship to guide itself to its designated landing pad. The dock near the Jedi Temple was rarely used, since most Jedi simply docked their ships in the hangars within the Temple itself, and the local district was mostly absent of other attractions, and so many visitors tended to dock elsewhere and take rail transports or hovercars to visit the area and see the Temple once or twice before going on to visit the more crowded and 'interesting' parts of the planet.

Nitai stopped by his room and looked himself over in the mirror one last time. He had changed into a fresh set of robes that had been made for him at master Chiida's insistence so that he could 'look the part' of a Jedi. They had decided to go for a brown robe and tunic, with white pants and a set of sturdy, leather boots. He personally thought it looked a bit a bit drab, but that might have just been because his people tended to prefer brighter colors, and when they wore dark colors they typically stuck to black, it was generally rather hard to find other dark colors that looked good when paired with the crimson-hued skin of the Sith.

"Well S1, we shouldn't keep the esteemed masters waiting." He said as they lowered the ramp and stepped out onto the docking pad. The various pads were separated by walls to provide some measure of privacy for loading and unloading ships, although it probably would have been fairly easy to see into the docking areas from one of the countless skyscrapers which surrounded the dock, but he supposed that it was the thought that counted. As they made their way through the terminal where several pilots were idling about, presumably waiting for cargo to be loaded or unloaded, Nitai couldn't help but stare, and probably would have stood there for hours if S1 hadn't jabbed his leg with one of his mechanical dendrites.

Nitai had seen aliens before, in pictures, videos, and holograms, but it was an entirely different thing to see them in person. He had so many questions to ask, where did they come from, what was their biology like? But there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Luckily for Nitai the Temple district, as it was sometimes called, was relatively uncrowded compared to most of the other areas of Coruscant, and was also generally more appealing to look at. Most of the buildings lacked any sort of ostentatious ornamentation or advertisements, and there were even a few parks and leisurely looking sitting areas, although as he walked by them he had to resist the urge to ask how they prevented the roots of the trees and plants from poking out through the floor, and he marveled at how much effort it must take to maintain such places so high above the surface of the planet.

As Nitai made his way towards the Jedi Temple he noticed several odd posters that had been put up, calling for people to 'do your part for the war effort.' "War? Did you know that there was a war going on, S1?" He asked and the astromech did the closest thing it could approximate to a shrug, lowering its body slightly before raising it again.

After nearly half an hour of walking he finally found himself standing on the Processional Way, the main boulevard which connected the Jedi Temple to the rest of the Temple district. He was surprised at how quiet and tranquil it seemed as he got closer and closer to the Temple, as if all the noise of Coruscant was being blocked out. There were a few robed Jedi idling about near the entrance of the temple, while to most observers they would have looked to be relaxing, he could tell from the way that they stood and how their hands lingered near their lightsabers that they were actually on guard.

It was a bit disturbing to see the Jedi so unnerved, and he guessed that it was probably due to the war. He knew that the Jedi sometimes intervened in the conflicts that posed a threat to the Republic or the Order as a whole, so if this war was big enough to get them involved and on edge, then it must have been bad. As he approached one of the Jedi walked forward, an older man with long, dark blond hair. "Hold there, I don't recognize you as one of our Padawans, state your name and purpose." He said, holding up a hand to indicate that Nitai should come no further.

Nitai stopped in place and bowed. "I apologize, honorable Jedi. My name is Nitai Zeama, I have come to the Temple to deliver a message to the Jedi Council on behalf of my master, a former member of you order, Seer Chiida." He said as he straightened back up and the older Jedi's eyes widened in surprise.

"Chiida, as in Koshiv Chiida?" He said, and this time it was Nitai's turn to look surprised. His master had told him that almost nobody ever referred to him by his first name, and many didn't even know that he had one. Most natives of Diyogos, Chiida's home planet, identified themselves with their family name, and would only use given names amongst family members, friends, or in situations where it was necessary to avoid confusion.

"That is him, are you familiar with him?" The Jedi only smiled fondly at Nitai's question. "We were good friends before his departure, he was a few years ahead of me but we dueled one another quite frequently. After all there are few better ways to test one's skills than by dueling against someone who is skilled in precognition." He said before nodding to the other Jedi. "I will take him to the council, you stay on guard, I'll be back shortly." He said before leading Nitai and S1 deeper into the Temple. "I am Master Cin Drallig, I imagine Chiida didn't mention me, but he was a good man. It was unfortunate that he had to take leave from the Temple."

As Nitai made his way alongside the Jedi Master he found himself constantly craning his neck to look at the high, vaulting ceilings of the Temple. He had never seen a building so massive and impressive, he figured that it was good that the Jedi were so austere and had apparently avoided providing much ornamentation for the Temple aside from a few statues and murals, since it would have been quite the hassle to hang banners or tapestries from such high ceilings, even with hoverpads.

"So how is old Chiida doing? Still doing that thing where he answers your sentences before you ask them?" Cin asked as he got onto an turbolift with Nitai and S1.

"Yes, but you get used to it after a while, and eventually he realizes what he's doing and stops. I think it's just become habit for him to look a few seconds into the future, and once you get into that habit it can become hard to break." Nitai responded, Chiida sometimes had trouble telling when he was seeing a few moments into the future and when he was just seeing the present, but it did come in handy sometimes, and it made it much harder to play tricks on him, which Nitai and some of the other young Sith had always taken as a challenge.

Once the turbolift had risen to the level of the Jedi Council in the Southwestern Spire, Nitai, S1, and Master Cin left the turbolift. "You stay out here, I will enter and inform the Council of your arrival." He said, Nitai nodded and glanced down at S1. As Cin entered the council chamber S1 beeped slightly and Nitai glanced at the astromech out of the corner of his eye. "It wasn't technically a lie, we do have a message for them from Master Chiida, that's just not the only reason we're here." He grinned slightly but quickly wiped the expression from his face as Master Cin reemerged.

"The council is ready to see you, I must return to my post, but I hope this will not be our last meeting." He said, Nitai nodded respectfully to the older Jedi. "Thank you, and may the Force be with you." He said before walking into the council chamber.

Nitai had been able to sense a strong presence in the Force since he had entered the Temple, but he had simply assumed that it was the result of so many Jedi being gathered together in one place. But when walking into the chamber he was very quickly made aware of his error, while a great deal of the Force presence was due to the proximity of so many Force sensitives, a very significant contributor to that presence was one individual. Chiida had told Nitai about Master Yoda, and his immense power with the Force and the presence he exuded, but Nitai had always assumed those stories to be just exaggerations. Yet as his eyes fell upon the diminutive green alien he could tell that if anything, Chiida had been underselling him.

Nitai opened his mouth to speak, but instead it simply hung open for several moments, before S1 jabbed him in the leg with an electrically charged dendrite, causing him to yelp. "Gah, I apologize, revered masters, I was briefly overwhelmed, I can assure you it will not happen again." He said, bowing from the waist. As he straightened back up he noticed that a few of the seats, which were arranged in a circle aside from a small gap for the door, were empty, lacking even a projected hologram of one of the masters that was currently absent but listening in.

"We have been told that you have brought a message from a former member of our order." A bald, dark-skinned Jedi said, and Nitai nodded.

"That is correct, Master Chiida unfortunately could not deliver it on his own, he felt it would be inappropriate to do so, since it would break his exile which has still not been revoked. S1, you may play the message." He said, and S1 wheeled into the center of the circle of masters, projecting an image of directly above himself.

"Greetings honorable council, I regret that I have been unable to deliver this message to you myself, but I felt it would be improper considering my state of exile. While searching for a place to spend the rest of my days I happened to stumble across an inhabited planet in uncharted space. The species there claimed to be descended from humans and red-skinned Zabrak, refugees who had fled a great war and isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy." He said, and Nitai was silently thankful that his master had decided to give the explanation they had devised, along with his grandmother, to explain his species. He had been worried that he might not be able to lie to such powerful Jedi, but it was impossible to use the Force to tell if a hologram was lying. "Many of these people wish to remain hidden, as they have grown mistrusting of the wider galaxy, but this young man, Nitai Zeama, is quite different. I have watched him grow and he has long desired to see the galaxy beyond the confines of his home planet. When I detected his ability to use the Force I saw an excellent opportunity for him to fulfill that desire. I was planning on sending him to you immediately, but his parents were quite insistent that I train him personally, as they trusted me far more than the Order. I have done my best to give him appropriate training, and believe him to be adequately prepared to take on the title of Padawan." The hologram said before pausing, and the council broke into quiet discussion as many of the Masters turned to consult with their neighbors.

"With all due respect, Seer Chiida was exiled for a reason. His teachings on the Force were quite unorthodox and untested, how are we to know if this child even has the proper mindset to be a Jedi?" One of the Masters spoke up Nitai turned to look and saw that it was a particularly hairy individual, and he was having trouble figuring out where the hair ended and face began.

"I hope you are not suggesting that I have fallen, Master Rancisis." The hologram of Chiida spoke up again, causing the discussion to suddenly stop. "And before anyone asks, yes, this is just a recording. But I felt it necessary to use my precognition that I might offer any rebuttals to such accusations. But you always were a cautious one, and your fears are not entirely unfounded. But I can assure you that young Nitai has been trained in the traditional manner, while he can be a bit overly enthusiastic at times, and his curiosity about the galaxy seems boundless, he is good at heart, and I have always made it clear to him what my views on the Dark side were."

"If you give yourself over to the Dark side in the search for power, knowledge or safety, you will only find yourself weak, stupid, paranoid, and miserable to boot." Nitai parroted almost instinctively. "Very good, Nitai, glad to see I managed to make the most important lesson stick." The hologram chuckled before bowing once again. "I leave his fate in your hands, but I would suggest that you give some careful thought to it, when darkness falls, it is good to have an extra source of light, even if it is only a single candle." And with that, the projection flickered out of existence.

"Hmmm…" All eyes turned to Master Yoda, this had been his first utterance since Nitai had entered the chamber. "Know Seer Chiida well, I did. Fall to the Dark side, he would not." The diminutive Jedi's gaze shifted to Nitai. "Allow him to join the Order, we shall, but under supervision, he will be."

"But these are trying times, first we should inform him of what we might face." Another Master spoke up, this one was orange-skinned and had a strange contraption covering his mouth and eyes, Nitai tried to search for the name of the species before eventually it came to him, Kel Dor. "The Jedi Order and the Republic are currently engaged in a war with a group of Separatists led by Count Dooku, a Jedi who has fallen to the Dark side and now claims the title of Sith Lord." At those words Nitai stiffened slightly in fear. A large-scale conflict was bad enough, but if there was a Sith Lord, that made it all the more complicated. A war over 'normal' circumstances could potentially be dealt with diplomatically, but if a Sith Lord was maneuvering in the background, that would make any chance of working things out through diplomacy difficult, if not entirely impossible.

"Well now you've just made the decision easier." He said as he plastered a smile on his face to hide the fact that his mind was racing. "I doubt that Master Chiida was unaware of this, so if he decided to send me out in spite of this threat then he must have had a reason, and besides, it wouldn't be right for me to run home with my tail between my legs, leaving such a threat to the galaxy at large." This statement did at least seem to draw approving looks from some of the Masters, or at least what he thought were approving looks, it was hard to tell with some of them.

"Well Master Plo, you can show our new Padawan to his quarters so that he can get situated." The bald human spoke up, and the orange skinned alien rose from his seat and beckoned for Nitai and S1 to follow him.

"Thank you for guiding me, Master Plo, I doubt that I would be able to find my way around the Temple on my own." Nitai said with a smile as they left the chamber and stepped onto the turbolift, which quickly shot downwards. Now that he was out of the tense air of the Council chamber he felt much more at ease.

"It is no trouble at all, and although your circumstances are unusual I hope that you will come to think of this Temple as your home." The Jedi said, and Nitai idly wondered if his voice was naturally that deep, or if it was due to the interference of his mask.

"I hope so as well." Nitai said before kneeling down next to S1. "S1, I want you to head back to the ship and bring it to the Temple. You can stay on the ship while I get settled in, I'll call you once I know what the order has planned for me. Do you have any idea who the council might assign me to?" He directed the last question to Plo Koon as he stood up.

"Hmm, I have an idea. There is one master who has had success training a Padawan who came to us under unusual circumstances. I imagine that you will want to get plenty of rest tonight, because if my assumption is correct, then you will need it." Nitai arched a brow curiously and pondered the Jedi's words as the turbolift came to a halt and S1 wheeled off towards the entrance to the Temple, while Plo Koon led Nitai deeper into the Temple.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well now we're really getting into the series proper, for convenience I decided to divide it into two pieces. Things probably won't deviate too much at the beginning of the story, but as things progress more changes will begin to occur. I was also planning on doing some chapters/arcs that would focus on characters other than Nitai, and depict more adventures that occur during the Clone Wars that may not have occurred in the canon timeline due to his presence. This chapter's recommendation is Todd in the Shadows, who reviews pop music, he also has two series, One Hit Wonderland, where he looks at the careers of one hit wonders (or bands/artists who are considered one hit wonders) and Trainwreckords, a newer series which looks at albums that basically killed the careers of the artists who published them.**

 **But anyway on with the show, take it away, overly excited Clone Wars announcer!**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 4 (V. 1)**

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 **A Galaxy Divided!**

 **Moving quickly after the Battle of Geonosis, the droid army of the Separatist Alliance has taken control of major hyperspace lanes, separating the Republic from the majority of its clone army. With few clones available, the Jedi generals have found it impossible to gain a foothold in the Outer Rim, and more and more planets have been throwing their lots in with the Separtists.**

 **With the Jedi peacekeepers and Republic army busy fighting the war against the Separatists, crime has begun to run rampant, and even those who were once thought untouchable have been feeling the effects. The son of crime lord Jabba the Hutt, has been kidnapped by a rival criminal faction and he has sent out a call to anyone for anyone who is willing to return his son to him. Seeking to ingratiate the Republic to the influential Hutt families, Chancellor Palpatine has ordered that any available Jedi be sent to retrieve the infant Hutt, but with their forces stretched thin, the only two available are generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, who have recently taken the planet Christophsis. With normal communications unable to reach the two generals, the Jedi Order has dispatched messengers to personally deliver the orders.**

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 **Coruscant 22 BBY**

Ahsoka Tano, recently promoted Padawan, had been incredibly excited to learn that she had been selected by Master Yoda himself to deliver a message, but that that message would be being delivered to her new Master. However, as she exited the turbolift and stepped out onto the floor of the hangar, she was surprised to see another Padawan already standing by the Nu-class shuttle which was supposed to transport her to a loading station closer to the Outer Rim, where she would meet up with a cruiser that would escort her the rest of the way to Christophsis. The Padawan was of a species that she had never seen before, and come to think of it she didn't recall ever seeing him in the temple. He had bright red skin that seemed to only stand out more when contrasted with the brown tunic and pants he was wearing. He seemed to be talking with a white and red R2 model astromech droid, and she was able to make out more of the conversation as she drew closer.

"Are you certain that you packed everything properly, S1?" The question only drew a series of exasperated beeps in response. "I just want to make sure, the Jedi were very polite to loan me a set of light armor, and I would prefer that their generosity not go to waste." He said, this seemed to provoke a decidedly less polite sequence of beeps. "I am not starting to sound like my mother." He said before Ahsoka cleared her throat, attracting his attention.

"Excuse me, are you lost? This is my shuttle and I wasn't aware that anyone else was going to be joining me." She said, he didn't respond and she noticed that he was staring at her head tails, she reached out and snapped her fingers a few times in front of his face to draw his attention back to her face.

"Oh sorry, excuse my staring, I've never seen a Togruta before." He said, now that was a curious statement, if he'd been staying on Coruscant for any length of time he would have doubtlessly seen a Togruta before, especially since there were a few amongst the Jedi. He bowed to her and when he straightened back up his luck of awe and curiosity had been replaced by a rather friendly looking smile. "My name is Nitai Zeama, I only recently arrived to the Temple. My planet is very isolated, but luckily a Jedi decided it would be a nice place to live in seclusion and trained me after discovering my affinity for the Force, the council has graciously decided to accept me as a Padawan despite the unconventional nature of my education, and decided to assign me to Master Kenobi. The decision was only made yesterday, and so I am not surprised at your…well, surprise. We will be travelling together to Christophsis, since I have been told that you have a message to deliver to Masters Kenobi and Skywalker." He rattled off, and Ahsoka was almost impressed at how he seemed to speak without even pausing for breath.

"Really? Well I suppose I should welcome you to the Order then. My name is Ahsoka Tano." She extended a hand which Nitai took and shook enthusiastically. "So, have you really never seen a Togruta before?" She asked as the two of them walked onto the shuttle, the S1 trailing behind him.

"Well, never in real life. My people are very isolated, I'm the first to ever stay away from our planet for longer than a few days. In fact, I'm pretty sure my Master was the first alien to ever step foot on our planet, if you don't mind, I have a few questions that I'd like to ask you." He said as the door to the shuttle closed, and she could have sworn that she heard the little Astromech droid laugh as the shuttle took off and made its way up into the skies of Coruscant.

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 **Several Hours Later, on board a Republic cruiser heading towards Christophsis**

It turned out that when Nitai said "a few questions" he actually meant "an entire list," and that was no exaggeration, the red-skinned Padawan had pulled out an electronic notepad and actually began listing off questions just as quickly as Ahsoka could answer them. They ranged from the general culture of Togruta, to the biomes of their homeworld, to biological questions, some of which she very firmly refused to answer, after all what type of person asks to touch someone else's head-tails after just meeting them? She was silently grateful when they arrived to the resupply station and boarded the cruiser that would take them to Christophsis, since he seemed to be distracted as he began to question some of the idle clones on the command bridge about themselves and the ship. However, he grew silent as one of the navigators spoke up.

"Admiral Yularen, we're dropping out of hyperspace." He said as Nitai and Ahsoka went to stand on either side of the admiral. However, when they finally exited hyperspace they did not find the orbit above Christophsis empty as they had expected, instead, several droid ships were hovering ominously in space, and immediately began to open fire on the unprepared Republic cruiser. Everyone on the bridge stumbled slightly as several volleys of laser fire battered against the shields.

"I thought that you said the blockade was broken!" Nitai shouted in surprise to be heard over the sudden clamor of sirens and shouted orders. "It was, the Separatists must have sent reinforcements." The admiral replied before turning to the two young Jedi. "You have to get down to the surface, run to the hangar, your shuttle is waiting for you there, the Separatists should be too focused on us to notice you slipping down to the planet's surface." Nitai and Ahsoka looked to one another before nodding and breaking into a sprint. They had to dodge several groups of clones who were rushing around to various areas of the ship in order to deal with the damage it had sustained, but they managed to make their way to the hangar fairly quickly. "Come on S1, we've got to go, now!" Nitai shouted to the astromech, who had been waiting near the door to the shuttle. The three of them quickly piled onto the shuttle and Ahsoka clambered towards the cockpit. "We need to get down to the surface, as fast as possible." She said, the clone pilot sounding off a quick "Yes, sir!" Before taking off.

Thankfully the admiral's predictions would prove accurate, the larger Separatist ships were busy focusing on the Republic cruiser, and the droid fighters were occupied by the quickly scrambled wings of Republic starfighters. Once they were a decent distance away from the fighting Nitai and Ahsoka collapsed into their seats, Nitai could still feel his heart pounding in his chest. The idea of space combat had always made him anxious, on the ground, with his lightsaber, he knew that he could rely completely on his skills and his weapon, there was so much that could go wrong with a fighter, and there was almost no room for error in the void of space.

Ahsoka looked over at Nitai as he began to take a few deep breaths, she had been shaken a bit by suddenly being thrust into combat, but the other Padawan looked far more shaken. "You okay, Nitai?" She asked and he just laughed nervously. "I'll be fine, just…" He paused to exhale and close his eyes briefly to try and center himself. "I haven't had a lot of experience being in space, and that's my first time being anywhere close to space combat, I mean I did a few simulations back home to prepare before I left but…I was always in the pilot's seat for those, it's a bit different when someone else is flying and there's nothing you can do to help." She moved over to sit next to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be down on the surface soon enough." She said and he opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Thanks, it'll be good to have some solid ground beneath me again." He said as Ahsoka removed her hand from his shoulder. The two of them spent the rest of the ride down to the surface in a comfortable silence.

"Commanders, we're approaching the LZ, but I'm seeing a group of clankers falling back from the defensive line." The clone pilot said, and Nitai just arched a brow. "Well, it appears our information wasn't entirely accurate, I thought Chistophsis had been taken." Ahsoka just nodded and frowned slightly. "I'm guessing that those ships in orbit probably were here to reinforce their army, and without any Republic cruisers around to provide support or reinforcements…" "The troops down here are up the proverbial creek, with nary a paddle in sight." Nitai said, finishing her thought.

"Well I suppose that's something our Masters will have to sort out, they're the generals after all." Ahsoka said with a slight smile, somewhat secure in the thought that the two Jedi Generals would be able to think up a plan. The shuttle touched down and Nitai stood up before walking over to a crate, he popped the top off, revealing a set of lightweight, white armor, it consisted of a breastplate and shoulder pads, along with a pair of gauntlets. He caught Ahsoka's curious look and shrugged. "My lightsaber style requires a lot of movement, but a bit of extra protection never hurt." He said as he strapped it on over his tunic before checking his lightsaber to make sure that the armor wouldn't interfere with his ability to grab it at a moment's notice

"I suppose so, I always found it a bit too restricting." She responded as the door to the shuttle hissed open. She'd always found even a small amount of armor to be a bit inhibiting, she liked being able to jump and move freely when fighting, and besides, she preferred dodging blaster bolts to reflecting them, and any excess weight would have made that more difficult.

The two of them walked down, and were greeted by the sight of the two Jedi Masters, and a group of clone troopers standing behind them. "Younglings?" The bearded master, who Nitai assumed to be Obi-Wan said, seemingly slightly confused. "And who are you two supposed to be?" The other Jedi, Skywalker if Nitai's guess was correct, asked. A blue and white astromech chimed in with a few beeps, although its attention soon seemed to divert to S1, who was following close behind Nitai.

"I'm Ahsoka, and this is Nitai, Master Yoda sent us. I was told to tell the two of you that you must return to the Jedi Temple immediately, there's an emergency." She said, before Anakin stepped forward. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in a bit of an emergency right here."

"Anakin is correct, our communications have been a bit unreliable but we've been calling for help." Obi-Wan chimed in.

"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you, so he sent me to deliver the message." Ahsoka said before Nitai spoke up. "We were under the impression that Christophsis had been taken, you can imagine our surprise when we dropped out of hyperspace practically on top of several droid cruisers."

Anakin sighed with frustration before turning around and throwing his hands up in the air. "Oh great, so they don't even know we're in trouble."

"Well hopefully that won't be true for long." Nitai said as he glanced at Ahsoka. "The cruiser that dropped us off is still in orbit, although it probably won't be for long, you could use it to relay a signal to Master Yoda." Ahsoka said.

"Then we shouldn't waste any time." Obi-Wan said as the four Jedi turned and headed towards a holotable that had been set up. Obi-Wan pressed a few buttons on the communications pad and the image of a clone wearing a bridge crew uniform sprang up. "Generals, it's good to see you're okay." He said, before his projected image stumbled slightly, probably due to the ship shaking from a laser impact. "We need you to relay a signal to Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple, our communications haven't been able to get through to them." Obi-Wan said and the clone nodded. "I'll try to make contact with the Jedi Temple, but we're outnumbered and taking a beating from these Separatist warships, so I can't say how stable the transmission will be. Standby."

The image of the clone flickered off and the four Jedi glanced between one another as the seconds passed, and Nitai let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't even realized he had been holding when the image of Master Yoda appeared. "Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka and Nitai found you, I am." The wizened Jedi said.

"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered and outgunned, I am afraid that we are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed, along with a majority of our gunships and walkers." Obi-Wan responded.

"Send reinforcements to you, I will." The rest of Master Yoda's transmission was lost in a haze of garbled words and static as the holographic projection began to break up. "Master Yoda? Master Yoda!" Obi-Wan's voice was growing increasingly stressed as the transmission dropped and the fragmented image of Master Yoda disappeared completely, only to be replaced by the clone bridge officer who they had spoken to previously.

"We've lost the transmission, sir." He said, before quickly being joined by another officer being escorted by an armored trooper. "We have to leave orbit immediately; more enemy ships have just arrived." The new officer spoke up, tripping slightly as the floor shook beneath his feet from yet another volley of laser fire impacted against the ship. "We'll get back to you as soon as we can." If the clone had anything else to say, they didn't get to hear it, since his projection quickly vanished as well.

"Well I'll guess we'll have to hold out a little longer." Anakin said as he crossed his arms, and Nitai found it hard to tell if the Jedi found the idea frustrating or exciting, although judging by his tone he wasn't willing to rule out the possibility that it could be both.

"My apologies, young ones. It's time for a proper introduction." Obi-Wan said as he walked around the table to stand in front of the two Padawans.

"I'm Ahsoka Tano, the new Padawan learner." Ahsoka said with a small smile as she introduced herself. "And I am Nitai Zeama, also a Padawan sent to learn." Nitai spoke up, bowing. At this proclamation both Obi-Wan and Anakin looked mildly surprised. "Hmm, I was unaware that the council would send me two Padawans, but I suppose given our current situation it can be difficult to assign one Padawan to a Master as we normally would." Obi-Wan said.

"I'm at your service, Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker." The young Togruta said, pointing to Anakin, whose luck of surprise quickly turned into one of disbelief.

"What? No, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake. He's the one who wanted the Padawan." Anakin said as he pointed accusingly at Obi-Wan. Nitai could hardly blame such a reaction, if Master Skywalker hadn't even requested a Padawan then it must have been a surprise to have one suddenly thrust upon one.

"Well he's got one." Nitai spoke up. "I have, in fact, been assigned to learn under Master Kenobi." "And Master Yoda was very specific, I am assigned to Anakin Skywalker, and he is to supervise my Jedi training." Ahsoka said with a pleased tone to her voice, there was no way she was going to let her Master weasel out of teaching her.

"But that doesn't make se-" "We'll sort this out later." Obi-Wan said, cutting off any further objections from Anakin. "It won't be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons." He said, drawing everyone's attention back to the more pressing matter at hand.

"I'll go and check on Rex in the lookout post." Anakin said as he turned and began to walk away, before Obi-Wan placed a hand on Ahsoka's back and ushered the young girl forward a few steps. "You'd better take her with you." He said, and for a brief moment Nitai wondered if Master Yoda really had made a mistake in assigning Ahsoka to Master Skywalker instead of Master Kenobi, since the grins that spread across their faces were almost identical. Anakin didn't even look back as Ahsoka began to follow him and Nitai moved to stand next to Master Kenobi.

"Are you really certain it was a good idea to send them off together, Master Skywalker did not seem pleased at suddenly learning he had a Padawan." Nitai said as he glanced at his new Master out of the corner of his eye. "Anakin will have to learn that sometimes we can't always get what we want, and besides, I think it will be good for him to have a Padawan, hopefully having someone else to look out for will keep him from jumping recklessly into danger." Obi-Wan responded before turning to face his new student. "Now let us go assess the defensive line, I'll give you a rundown of our situation, and you can tell me a little bit about yourself." He said and the two Jedi walked off, with Nitai effortlessly diving into his partially fabricated backstory.

* * *

 **A Short Time Later**

"So essentially, we're trapped on a blockaded planet, vastly outnumbered, our only major heavy weaponry are the artillery cannons and a few walkers, and considering the droids are probably landing even more troops as we speak, we'll probably run out of ammunition for the cannons long before they run out of droids or tanks." Nitai said as he and Obi-Wan walked behind the barricades that had been erected by the clones.

"That's the gist of it." Obi-Wan replied. "But fortunately, we'll only have to hold our position, if we can last long enough to be reinforced, then our chances of success will improve dramatically.

"It sounds so easy when you put it that way, Master." Nitai remarked dryly, which only drew a chuckle from Obi-Wan. "Have some faith, my young Padawan, I've been in far worse situations than this and come out unscathed." He said, although that wasn't entirely reassuring to Nitai, since that probably meant he'd probably be getting drawn into even more desperate situations, presuming he and Master Kenobi managed to survive this particular adventure. However, he caught sight of something unusual out of the corner of his eye. As he turned he saw a flickering red barrier, that was slowly expanding, but what was more alarming was the line of tanks which was advancing under the energy shield's protection. "Well Master, it seems like our odds are looking worse by the second." He said as he and Obi-Wan turned and made a rush for the impromptu command station that had been set up in front of one of the few remaining intact buildings.

"They have a shield- " "We've noticed." Nitai said, being abruptly cut off by Anakin as a projection of the surrounding area was quickly brought up on the holotable.

"The shield generator must be somewhere in this area, and they're slowly expanding its range, keeping it just ahead of their troops." Obi-Wan explained as he gestured to the gradually growing bubble that appeared on the projection.

"Our heavy cannons will be useless against that." A clone, who Nitai guessed was Captain Rex judging by his slightly more ornate armor, added.

"We could try to level the playing field by drawing them into the buildings." Obi-Wan suggested, although judging from his tone of voice even he seemed to doubt the effectiveness of that plan, since it was assuming that the droids would even bother to send troops into the building, rather than simply levelling them with their tanks.

"If that shield is going to be so much of a problem, why not just take it out?" Ahsoka asked. "Easier said than done." Rex said, with Nitai nodding in agreement. "Indeed, with that many tanks even four Jedi would have trouble getting through to wherever they're keeping the shield generator."

"Well I…for one, agree with her." Anakin said, seeming reluctant to agree to the plan more due to who suggested it, rather than its difficulty. "Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it, otherwise they'll just roll over us."

"Right then." Obi-Wan said, clearly unconvinced. "Maybe you two can tiptoe through the enemy lines and solve this particular problem together." He said with a slight grin.

"Can do Master Kenobi." Ahsoka said, and Nitai was almost impressed by how nonplussed she seemed about the idea of sneaking through an entire column of tanks and droids.

"I'll decide what we do." Anakin said, not wanting to seem like his Padawan was taking the initiative in the situation more than him.

"If Rex, Nitai, and I can engage them here, you might have a chance to get through their lines undetected here." Obi-Wan said, pointing towards a few different points on the holographic map.

"But you won't have much time, the droids vastly outnumber us, so our ability to streetfight is limited without the use of our heavy cannons. They'll march forward under the protection of our shield until they're right on top of our cannons, and then they'll blow them away." Rex said as he stared at the steadily advancing line of troops that was displayed on the projection.

"We'll figure out a way, come on Master, let's go." Ahsoka said with a smile before turning around, Anakin quickly following her. "If we survive this, Snips, you and I are going to have a talk." Anakin said as they walked off.

"They make…quite a pair, don't they sir?" Rex asked as he glanced at Obi-Wan. "You think they have a chance?"

"They better, if they can't turn off that shield generator before it reaches the heavy cannons, there'll be no escape for any of us." Obi-Wan said as he, Nitai, and Rex leaned over the map.

* * *

 **Later, on the Front Lines**

Nitai peered through a pair macrobinoculars alongside Captain Rex and Obi-Wan, watching as the shots of their heavy cannons were blocked by the shield, which stubbornly refused to so much as flicker under the assault.

"That shield is certainly putting a crimp in my day." Obi-Wan said, needing to shout to be heard over the constant firing of the cannons. "Perhaps they would turn it off if we asked politely." Nitai suggested with a tense grin.

"It's no use, sir. Even at full power the cannon doesn't affect it." Rex reported.

"Well it was worth a try." Obi-Wan said before turning to Rex. "Tell the men to fall back to the prepared positions." He said as he joined Nitai and the clones as they ran towards some ruined buildings and walkways, taking cover out of sight of the droids and waiting as the ominous, metallic footsteps of the droid army drew closer and closer.

Eventually the red energy shield passed over them, and Nitai gripped his lightsaber tightly in preparation. "We're inside the shield, just stay away from the tanks." Obi-Wan said as he ignited his lightsaber, Nitai quickly following suit. The two Jedi leapt from their hiding place, directly into the mass of droids. One of whom caught sight of them and exclaimed "Jedi!" before being sliced in half by Nitai's lightsaber. The clones followed their commanders on zip lines, firing their blasters as they zoomed down towards the droid column.

Nitai could feel his heart pounding in his chest as his lightsaber hummed, somehow, he could still make out the subtle noise despite the clamor of battle as he began to carve through the droids, making cure to establish a safe area where the clones could land. But even with the advantage of surprise they could not defend forever against the droid army, and eventually they were pushed back into the ruined crystalline buildings which dotted the streets.

"Sir, they're right behind us, and closing fast." Captain Rex said as he ran through the smoke towards the two Jedi, the three of them quickly taking cover as a cluster of lasers shot overhead.

"The shield has almost reached the heavy cannons." Obi-Wan said, his voice tense.  
"Move your troops back to the heavy cannons and do everything you can to defend them, I'll delay the droids." Obi-Wan said before turning to Nitai. "You go with them." He said, but Nitai only smiled in response. "Sorry Master, I'm afraid I can't follow that order, what type of Padawan would I be if I let you go out and die on our first day together? Besides, if that shield reaches the cannons I'll be dead anyway, and if I must die I'd rather go out fighting tooth and nail." He said and Obi-Wan only shook his head, smiling wryly. "It seems I'm somewhat cursed to have Padawans who have trouble following orders." He said as the two Jedi emerged from their cover, deflecting blaster bolts and staring down the approaching contingent of battle droids.

The two of them must have cut through dozens of super battle droids together, as attested by the growing pile of scrap and droid parts that gathered around their feet as they stood back to back. But eventually they found themselves completely surrounded, and with the barrel of a tank's cannon leveled at the both of them. The tank's hatch popped open and surprisingly the figure that emerged was not a droid, but rather a narrow-faced alien.

"You must be the infamous general Kenobi." He said, his Galactic Basic was tinged with a rather noticeable accent.

"I surrender." Obi-Wan said deactivating his lightsaber. Nitai looked confused but after sharing a quick look with his Master he mirrored the gesture, deactivating his saber and slipping it into his belt, only for a droid to come forward and grab it along with his Master's.

"Now, master Kenobi, order your troops to stand down." The alien general ordered as Obi-Wan used the force to levitate several shattered pieces of the building in front of him, letting creating a makeshift table and three chairs, two on Obi-Wan's side and one opposite. "General, have a seat." He said, gesturing to the table.

"Have you gone mad?" The alien asked, scratching the side of his head in confusion. "I hate to agree with the man pointing a cannon at us, but are you out of your mind?" Nitai said.

"I have conceded the battle, now we simply need to negotiate the terms of surrender. Pay attention Nitai, think of this as your first lesson." He said as the droids circled around them, their blasters still leveled at the two Jedi.

To Nitai's surprise the Separatist general actually seemed to consider it. "Don't try any of your tricks, Jedi." He growled.

"Surely there's no reason we can't be civilized about this." Obi-Wan said, the general paused for a moment before the back of his tank hissed open and he exited along with an LEP assistant droid accompanying him. "It is a rare honor to be able to meet one's opponent face to face, you're a legend throughout the Inner Core." Obi-Wan continued as the opposing general sat down, with Obi-Wan and Nitai soon following. Nitai was surprised to see how thickly Obi-Wan was laying on the flattery, but he was even more surprised at the general's response. "Thank you, the honor is all mine. I'm so glad you decided to surrender." He couldn't really be taking the flattery at face value? Maybe it was because Nitai had grown up taking classes on how to lie at the academy, as an elective, of course, but he wasn't fooled by Obi-Wan's tone for a second, he would have expected that a general would be able to see through it.

"Well at some point one must accept the reality of the situation." Obi-Wan responded before coughing slightly. Nitai was almost embarrassed at how fake it sounded, either Jedi were terrible liars, or Obi-Wan was deliberately laying it on thick. "Could we get some refreshments?" Obi-Wan asked, and the general turned toward his servant droid. "You, get us something to drink." The small droid saluted and walked off. "Thank you, this shouldn't take long." Obi-Wan said, and Nitai grinned as he finally caught on to what his Master was doing.

The negotiations, if one could even properly call them that, went exactly as Nitai expected they would once he had gotten wind of his Master's plan. Master Kenobi acted as if this were a surrender between equal forces, rather than one army who was vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the other. It was fascinating to watch Kenobi run down the list of proper protocols for surrender and what he would expect for his troops as prisoners of war, he was unflappably calm despite still having an array of droid blasters pointed at him. However even Obi-Wan couldn't keep the general's temper in check for quite that long, and soon the Separatist commander exploded. "Enough of this!" He shouted, clearly infuriated. "You are stalling." He said, pointing an accusing finger at Obi-Wan. "Nonsense, general, there are numerous details to be discussed." Obi-Wan replied smoothly, however, the Separatist general clearly was only enraged further by his response, and he grabbed the makeshift table and flipped it over, sending the bowls they had been drinking out of flying, which Nitai thought was a bit of a shame, Chrisophsian tea was actually quite good. "Seize them!" The general ordered as the droids began to close in on the two unarmed Jedi. Grabbing them by their arms and lifting them up into the air. While Nitai was internally distressed at this he saw how Obi-Wan's expression barely changed and tried to mirror it, keeping a pleasant smile plastered on his face despite his increasingly precarious position.

"Unless you call of your troops right now, I will have no choice but to destroy you." The Separatist growled.

"Truthfully I was hoping your shield would be knocked out by now." Obi-Wan said candidly. "As was I, but I must say Master, you did an excellent job of stalling." Nitai piped up. Almost as if on cue a whirring noise filled the air and the red tinted shield began to dissipate. "Huh, would you look at that?" Nitai said as he and Obi-Wan almost simultaneously flipped out of the droids' grasp before using the force to knock them together. They then jumped behind the general and Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around his neck, shielding his and Nitai's bodies with the general. "Don't shoot!" The general cried out as the droids closed in, their blasters leveled at Nitai and Obi-Wan and, consequently, also at the general. The sounds of explosions quickly began to ring out as the Separatists tanks began to explode, torn apart by shots from the heavy cannons. Obi-Wan pulled out an imagecaster, and a hologram of Admiral Yularen appeared.

"General Kenobi, if you can hear me, we've gotten through the blockade. The Separatist armada is in retreat, your reinforcements should be landing in a moment." The admiral said, and true to his word, a squadron of LAAT gunships flew overhead, heading in the direction of the clone lines.

"Well general, I think now would be a good time to consider thinking of surrender." Nitai said and the general grimaced. "Stand down." He ordered his droids, who raised their blaster arms to an idle position. Nitai and Obi-Wan reached out their hands and pulled their lightsabers back to them, as they escorted the general outside, where they were soon met by a descending gunship, carrying a squadron of clones and, surprisingly, Master Yoda.

"Master Yoda, your timing is impeccable." Obi-Wan said with a smirk. The Separatist general was quickly surrounded by the clones, while Obi-Wan and Nitai got onto the gunship, which took off and began heading toward a landed transport cruiser. The three Jedi got off and Nitai found himself suddenly feeling very lightheaded as the rush of adrenaline that had kept him going all throughout his first genuine combat engagement began to wear off. "Excuse me Masters, I think I need to sit down." He said, using the force to pull a piece of debris over and letting out an exhausted sigh, he sat down not a moment too soon, as his legs suddenly felt like they were made of lead. Soon they were joined by Anakin and Ahsoka, who were stepping off another gunship that was also carrying Captain Rex.

"Master Obi-Wan, Master Yoda." Anakin said, bowing slightly as he approached. "Trouble you have, with your new Padawan, I hear." The old master said, and Ahsoka looked questioningly at Anakin, who returned the look before glancing at Obi-Wan.

"I was explaining the situation to master Yoda." Obi-Wan explained. "If not ready for a Padawan you are then perhaps, we can…" Before the diminutive Jedi could complete his thought, Anakin cut him off. "No, wait a minute. I'll admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges, but with a great deal of training, and patience, she might amount to something." He said, and Ahsoka smiled brightly.

"Then go with you, she will, to the Teth system." Master Yoda said, drawing a confused look from Anakin. "Teth? But that's wild space, the droid army isn't even in that sector." "Kidnapped, Jabba the Hutts son, has been." The old Master responded.

"Wait, you want me, to rescue Jabba's son?" Anakin asked, and judging by the tone of his voice Nitai guessed that the very thought of assisting a Hutt offended him.

"Anakin, we'll need the Hutt's allegiance to gain an advantage over Dooku, especially if we hope to take the fight to the Separatist forces in the Outer Rim." Obi-Wan said.

"Hmm, negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will. With him, Padawan Zeama, will go." He said and Nitai sighed, before allowing a weary smile to once again spread across his face. "It seems our work is never done, well I suppose it will be interesting to see a Hutt in person." He said before Master Yoda turned back to face the four of them, although his gaze was focused on Anakin and Ahsoka. "Find the renegades who hold Jabba the Hutt's son, your mission will be."

"Come on master, it doesn't sound that hard, I'll go get Rex and organize the troops." Ahsoka said before turning and sprinting off to find Rex.

"Don't worry Anakin." Obi-Wan said as he noticed a nervous edge in his old Padawan's stance. "Just teach her everything I taught you and she'll turn out fine." He said with a smile as Anakin glanced back at him. "You know, something makes me think this was your idea from the start." He said, and judging by the smile on Obi-Wan's face, Nitai would be inclined to agree.

"Let's just hope he's ready for this responsibility." Obi-Wan said once Anakin was out of earshot. "Ready to teach an apprentice, he is, to let go of his pupil, a greater challenge, it will be." Master Yoda replied. "Master this, Skywalker must."

As the gunship carrying Anakin departed Obi-Wan turned back to Master Yoda. "If I've got to make a deal with Jabba the Hutt, I'd best be on my way. Nitai, head into the cruiser and there should be a fighter waiting for you, I'll meet you in orbit and we'll head off together." He said, as he headed towards his own starfighter and climbed in, before taking off and shooting into the sky.

Master Yoda and Nitai shared a look before he stood up, groaning as he felt the muscles in his leg protest. "I suppose I shouldn't keep him waiting too long. I'll see you later, Master Yoda." He said, he normally would have been much more respectful to the elder Jedi, but he had just gotten out of a warzone and had spent an extended period of time unarmed, with blasters pointed at him, he'd earned the right to be a little casual.

When he entered the hangar of the cruiser he found a familiar droid working on a mostly red Jedi starfighter with white detailing, similar to Obi-Wan's, although his was a much brighter shade of red. He was surprised to find the starfighter so perfectly matched his skin tone, but the reason for that quickly became apparent as S1 rolled up to him, a spray can, dripping red paint from its nozzle, clutched in one of the little droid's mechanical dendrites. The astromech squealed in excitement at the sight of him and rushed forward, dropping the spray can before wrapping its mechanical arms around his leg, before pulling back and then extending an electrified prong to jab him in the shin.

"Ouch, I'm sorry S1, I can't help it if the Jedi make crazy plans." He said as S1 beeped indignantly, telling him precisely what he thought of the Jedi and there 'plans'. "Oh save it for later, we've got another mission, we're heading going to go deal negotiate with a crime lord." Nitai said as he climbed into his ship pausing slightly as he was halfway inside and then sighing. "What has my life come to where negotiating with a Hutt crime lord is considered something to look forward to?" He said before settling into his seat and closing the cockpit. S1 activated his jets and maneuvered above the astromech socket just in front of the cockpit.

After firing up the engine, he shot out of the hangar into the sky above Christophsis, where he met up with Obi-Wan's fighter. "We'll be heading to Tatooine to meet with Jabba. Link up with your hyperdrive ring, it should have the coordinates already set." Obi-Wan's voice came in clearly through his communications relay. The two fighters slid smoothly into place in their hyperdrive rings, and soon enough the two Jedi jumped into hyperspace, leaving Christophsis behind as they headed towards the desert planet of Tatooine, and the palace of Jabba the Hutt.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well ladies and gents, here's your next chapter. For today's recommendation we have TeamFourStars Dragonball Abridged. I imagine that anyone who has spent a decent amount of time on the internet would probably be at least passingly acquainted with one of the most famous abridged series of all time, but for those who might not have heard of it, simply search for it on Youtube and be prepared to enjoy a long, and hilarious, ride.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 5 (V. 1)**

* * *

 **Kidnapped!**

 **After receiving reinforcements and winning the battle for Christophsis, Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have received a new mission, to find and rescue the son of influential crime lord, Jabba The Hutt.**

 **While Anakin and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, travel with a contingent of clones to the planet where Jabba's son is being held, Master Kenobi and Padawan Zeama travel to Tatooine, to negotiate with the fearsome Hutt.**

* * *

 **Above Tatooine**

As Nitai and Obi-Wan dropped out of hyperspace Nitai finally got a good look at the planet they were going to. "Hmm, a desert planet, an…interesting choice for an influential Hutt to make his base." He said, he'd always imagined that someone is powerful and wealthy as Jabba supposedly was wouldn't spend much time on such a barren-looking backwater.

"Jabba seems to prefer staying far away from the eyes of the Republic. Even before the war Tatooine was practically lawless. Most people here will probably go their entire lives without seeing a Republic soldier or peacekeeper. Jabba is, in essence, the only real authority on this planet." Obi-Wan explained as they detached from their hyperdrive rings and flew towards the planet.

"Sounds like a genuine hive of scum and villainy." Nitai said as they entered the atmosphere. "You have no idea." Obi-Wan responded. "Let's just hope that we find Jabba in a good mood."

"He's had his son kidnapped, I'm fairly certain he's going to be stuck in a less than sunny disposition for as long as this remains true." Nitai said, clearly not sharing his Master's optimistic outlook.

* * *

 **Jabba's Palace**

As the two starfighters approached Jabba's palace, Nitai was surprised to see that it looked almost like a monastery. Although perhaps it had been repurposed for usage by the crime lord.

They landed their fighters a few dozen feet away from the large, heavily fortified door, which soon began to slide open, revealing a trio of aliens being led by a protocol droid. Nitai and Obi Wan got out and adjusted the cloaks they had put on to protect from the sand, which seemed to constantly be shifting in the ever-present wind.

"We should not keep the wise and powerful Jabba waiting." The droid said once it had stopped in front of the two Jedi. "I wouldn't dream of it." Obi-Wan responded before glancing at Nitai. "It would probably be best to let me do most of the talking Hutts like Jabba can be dangerous even at the best of times." He said as they followed the droid into the palace.

As the doors shut behind them, a collection of curious Jawas began to approach the two starfighters. R4 beeped nervously, but as one of the Jawas attempted to climb onto Obi-Wan's starfighter she extended a dendrite and zapped it right between its glowing eyes. Sending it careening off the starfighter, where it quickly scrambled to its feet and joined its fellows as they screamed in fear and retreated.

The inside of the palace was a haze of smoke and dust as they were led towards the Hutt's throne room. Nitai had initially been intrigued by the variety of species who lingered in the room, and his face darkened slightly at some of the scantily clad dancers who were lounging around, however his attention quickly turned to the massive, slug-like alien who sat on cushion-covered dais. He had seen holograms of Hutts before, but they had always been rather small, and while he had read about how large they could get, it was a completely different experience to see one up close. He and Obi-Wan approached the dais, bowing to the Hutt crime lord.

"Mighty Jabba, we have come to inform you that we have received your request for aid and that one of our most powerful Jedi is currently on the way to rescue your son. We will not let you down." Obi-Wan said, Nitai staying silent and standing a few paces behind his master.

The corpulent Hutt spoke in a deep and bellowing voice that seemed to echo slightly in the dimly lit room. "The most gracious Jabba has one more, small condition. He demands you bring back the slime that kidnapped his little…punky muffin." The protocol droid translated, causing Nitai and Obi-Wan to speak up at the same time. "Punky muffin?" Obi-Wan's tone was more one of amusement, while Nitai just sounded confused. "Master, what is a punky?" Nitai asked, but before he could be answered, Jabba spoke again. "Dead or alive. If you do not succeed, Count Dooku and his droid army will."

Nitai reached forward and tapped Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "Master, permission to speak?" "Permission granted." Nitai stepped forward and bowed to the reclining Hutt. "Most venerable Jabba, I have only one thing that I might request you clarify. If we return the kidnappers to you dead, how many pieces of their body would suffice?" He said, and while such a question would have sounded ominous coming from some, Nitai seemed to only be curious.

Jabba laughed at the question before speaking once more. "The wise and vengeful Jabba would prefer their heads, but anything to prove their demise will suffice." After hearing the response Nitai straightened back up. "He has deigned to give your Jedi one planetary rotation to retrieve his son and return him to Tatooine." The droid said.

"We will inform him immediately, you needn't worry, might Jabba, your son will be safe soon." Obi-Wan said as he and Nitai withdrew to a secluded corner of the room in order to contact Anakin and Ahsoka. "Was that line of questioning really necessary?" Obi-Wan asked with a raised brow. "I believe it would probably be best to not leave any ambiguities when dealing with someone like Jabba." Nitai responded as Obi-Wan pulled out an imagecaster. The figure of Anakin soon taking shape.

"Master Obi-Wan, what do you have to report?" Anakin asked. "Here's the situation, Jabba has given us one planetary rotation to rescue his son and return him to Tatooine." Obi-Wan reported.

"It won't take us that long Master." Anakin replied confidently, and Obi-Wan just shook his head slightly at his old apprentice's cocksure attitude. "Well be sure to take extreme care, we have no idea who's holding Jabba's son. Nitai and I will join you once we've finished negotiations." He said before Nitai poked his head in so that Anakin would be able to see him. "Also, Jabba wants the kidnappers brought to him dead or alive, he'd prefer a head, but any physical confirmation of their death will suffice." He added before stepping back after receiving a scolding look from his Master, who then turned the imagecaster off.

"Nitai, you go back to the fighters while I finish up negotiations with Jabba, we'll need to leave as fast as possible if we want to provide Anakin with more support." Obi-Wan said and Nitai nodded before heading out of the palace. He shooed away a few Jawas who were milling around the fighters, although they seemed to be staying a safe distance away, probably due to the fact that any time one of them tried to get closer S1 or R4 would extend an electrically charged prong and zap the ground just in front of the approaching Jawa. "S1, R4, get the engines warmed up, Master Kenobi will be out soon and we'll be going to support Ahsoka and Master Skywalker." He said as he climbed into his fighter. He didn't have to wait long before Obi-Wan emerged and slid into the cockpit of his starfighter. R4 let out a relieved series of beeps while S1 released a final surge of what was probably the droid version of profanity at the Jawas as they took off. However, as the two Jedi took off neither was aware of the cloaked figure watching them leave.

Once the two Jedi had arrived in the Republic cruiser that had arrived during their negotiations they were met by Commander Cody, the Commander of the 212th attack battalion. "Commander, tell Admiral Yularen to get underway, we need to reinforce Anakin." Obi-Wan said as his cockpit opened up. "Right away, sir." The clone responded before turning and relaying the order to a pair of troopers who were milling around near one of the dropships.

"It'll be a while before we manage to get to Anakin's position, and it's likely we'll have to fight our way down. Do you have any experience with space combat?" Obi-Wan asked as he and Nitai climbed out of their fighters to stretch their legs out.

"To be entirely honest with you, Master Kenobi, I am quite afraid of space combat. Luckily that fear is at its strongest when I'm not actually flying a ship, I don't like the feeling of being helpless and unable to act. But put me in a cockpit and it's a bit more manageable, still present, but not nearly as petrifying." Nitai admitted, his face paling a bit as he remembered the all too recent descent he and Ahsoka had made onto Christophsis, and how much it had shaken him.

"Hmm, I suppose we'll have to work on that after this mission is over. But for now, just try and stay close to me, and trust that the clones will be watching out for you." Obi-Wan said as he placed a hand on his Padawan's shoulder. Nitai smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you, Master Kenobi."

* * *

 **Later, Above Teth**

"General, we've dropped out of hyperspace, but our scans are showing a Separatist dropship near the monastery, as well as signs of battle. General Skywalker's communicator is also giving off signals from deeper in the monastery." Commander Cody reported as Nitai and Obi-Wan once again entered their starfighters.

"Thank you for the report, Commander, we'll keep the skies clear and provide support." Obi-Wan said as he and Nitai took off, soon being joined by a squadron of clone fighters.

"Skywalker is in trouble, you know the drill." Obi-Wan said as they flew towards the planet before glancing out of his cockpit towards Nitai's fighter, which was dutifully sticking close by.

"We've got incoming fighters!" One of the lead clones shouted shortly after they'd entered the atmosphere, a hail of lasers shooting towards them. Nitai could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he swerved to dodge the streaking red bolts. "It's just like the simulations Nitai." He said to himself, his voice tight with tension. "Keep by Master Kenobi, and remember the simulations." He said as he opened fire on one of the droid fighters, a tight smile stretching across his face as he watched it explode into a cloud of debris.

However, during the dogfighting one of the clones got hit, and was being homed in on by a Separatist fighter. "I'm hit, I can't shake him!" The droid cried as he began to ascend towards the cruiser. "Just relax Oddball, I'm right behind you, Nitai, you take the second fighter, I'll take the first." Obi-Wan said. "Got it." Nitai replied tersely, he didn't trust himself to speak anything words longer than a syllable without his voice cracking from the tension. He and Obi-Wan fell in behind the pair of fighters pursuing the damaged clone ship, and with a controlled burst of fire, both droid fighters exploded, sending shards of debris raining onto the planet below.

"Thanks, sirs, sorry I panicked." The clone said with a relieved sigh. "That's alright Oddball, it happens to everybody." Obi-Wan said, although Nitai could tell from the tone that the comment wasn't just meant for the clone.

The number of droid fighters had been drastically thinned thanks to the prolonged dogfighting, and as they drew closer to the monastery Nitai could see flashes of blaster fire.

"It looks like a battle is taking place on the east side of the monastery. And if there's a battle Anakin's probably in the middle of it. We'll start looking for him there, all ships form up on me." Obi-Wan ordered as the ships formed into a loose arrowhead and began heading towards the monastery. "Commander Cody, prepare the gunships for ground assault." He added, as they drew closer to the monastery, and in response four gunships flew out of the side hangars and made a beeline for the building.

"Nitai, give control over to S1, we'll be jumping down to give Rex some assistance on the ground." Obi-Wan said. "You heard him S1." Nitai said with an almost relieved sigh as he transferred control over to the astromech. The two Jedi starfighters released a volley of blaster fire at the droids which were surrounding Captain Rex and the remaining troopers, before the cockpits popped open and Obi-Wan and Nitai leapt out, immediately igniting their lightsabers as they landed and cutting down the nearest droids. While Obi-Wan cut through the droids, Nitai was content to direct their blaster fire back at them, taking out quite a few B1s and even a few B2s in that manner. The gunships made short work of the Separatist dropship, and began to provide covering fire as Commander Cody and a squadron of clones rappelled down and began gunning down the remaining droids before taking cover along with Rex and what remained of his squad.

"Where's Skywalker?" Obi-Wan shouted as he and Nitai ran up to Rex's position, deflecting blaster bolts the entire way. "Should still be in the castle sir." Rex responded quickly, most of his attention occupied by firing at any droid unable to find cover. "You keep the droids occupied, Nitai and I will go find him." Obi-Wan said before he and Nitai turned and sprinted towards the entrance to the monastery's main castle. A few droids did try to take potshots at the departing Jedi, but most were still too occupied with the increased number of clones that were now firing at them.

As the two Jedi entered the castle they were met by a bald, pale woman wielding a pair of red lightsabers with curved hilts, along with a pair of B2 battle droids. "Master Kenobi, always chasing after Skywalker, how predictable. And I see you've brought a friend, not confident that you could take me on your own?" She taunted as her gaze flickered towards Nitai.

"Anakin leaves quite a mess, which always leads me to you, Ventress." Obi-Wan responded with a smirk as he raised his saber. "Take him." Ventress ordered the pair of droids before running off down a corridor. However, the droids didn't slow the two Jedi down, as they quickly deflected the blaster bolts aimed at them and bisected the two droids at the waist.

"So, anything I should know about this Ventress woman?" Nitai asked as he followed his master, his saber raised as he scanned their surroundings, the deep shadows and numerous pillars provided many places for an ambush. "Dooku's personal assassin, and a rather persistent thorn in my side." Obi-Wan replied as they came to a circular room ringed by pillars.

"Ventress, I know you're here." Obi-Wan called out as he looked around the room. "You can't hide, I feel your frustration. Let me guess, you're after Jabba's young son too." Clearly Obi-Wan's words were effective in getting a rise out of Ventress, as she leapt down from her hiding place and attempted to bring her lightsabers down on Obi-Wan's head, only to find them being blocked by both Obi-Wan's and Nitai's lightsabers. After briefly locking blades Ventress slid back and removed her long skirt, revealing a shorter one underneath it. She threw the fabric at the two Jedi and closed in while their vision was briefly obscured before leaping at them, however they each blocked one of her blades with their sabers.

"You'll have to do better than that, my darling?" Obi-Wan said with a grin, causing Nitai to raise a brow in confusion, since he didn't dare take his eyes off of Ventress. The two Jedi broke the blade lock and began to push Ventress back. The assassin was having an increasing amount of difficulty dealing with the two of them, Nitai would have been a moderate challenge, since his left-handedness meant he had an unusual pattern of attacks, however in a one-on-one fight she probably would have been able to overcome him. But when paired with Obi-Wan's greater skill it was all that she could do to simply hold her ground.

However, there came a point where Obi-Wan's defenses dropped briefly, and she managed to knock his saber out of his hand. "Well, now I'm impressed." He said, further taunting the assassin. She continued to try to strike him with one of her sabers while deflecting Nitai's blows. However, as he made a swipe at her from above he did something unexpected, he deactivated his lightsaber. The blade that she had raised to block it suddenly found itself facing nothing but empty air, and Ventress leapt back just in time to avoid the reignited blade of his lightsaber piercing the air where her head had just been. This pause in her assault gave Obi-Wan enough time to stretch his hand out and use the Force to pull his lightsaber back into his hand.

"It seems my new Padawan has a few interesting tricks up his sleeve, shall we continue?" He asked as he pointed his saber towards Ventress. "With pleasure." She hissed before closing in. Now in addition to fighting against two opponents Ventress also had to find herself contending with the red-skinned Padawan's unorthodox style, he deactivated his lightsaber seemingly at random, causing her to stumble when she tried to lock blades with him as he sabers soared through empty air, only to have to twist and contort her body to avoid being impaled once he reignited the weapon after slipping past her guard, if not for her exceptional agility and reflexes she would have quickly fallen under the assault of the two Jedi.

"We know of Dooku's plot to turn the Hutts against us, it will not succeed." Obi-Wan said as the three combatants separated once again, slowly circling as Ventress tried to look for an opening in either of their defences. "It will when the truth dies with the two of you." She said before lowering her sabers to the floor, sending up a glut of sparks as she charged towards them before jumping into the air and spinning, bring her sabers down with a great deal of increased momentum that the two Jedi only barely managed to deflect. "Nitai, out the window." Obi-Wan barked, Nitai nodded and joined his master in jumping up onto the top of one of the pillars and out one of the open windows that ringed the room's ceiling.

They soon found themselves on a walkway between the temple and one of the outlying towers. However, as they faced one another Ventress looked confused while Nitai and Obi-Wan grinned. "I sense it too, Anakin is gone." Obi-Wan said. "I wonder how your Master will look upon this failure?" Nitai added, this further taunting only seemed to enrage the assassin as she charged at them, her attacks becoming more and more furious with each passing moment. As she locked blades with Obi-Wan he forced her sabers down onto the stone railing before pushing it away, causing one of her blades to careening off the bridge and into the forest below. Ventress tapped a band on her wrist before hissing "Jedi scum" and resuming her attack, although now she was at a much clearer disadvantage.

"Why do you continue to fight? The Hutt is safe, you can't get him now." Nitai said as he and Obi-Wan brought their sabers down towards her head, she raised her blade and struggled to keep it steady as she tried to resist their combined force. "He's right Ventress, we've won, lay down your weapon." Obi-Wan said, however any further demands to surrender were interrupted by the distinctive humming of an approaching droid fighter. Ventress jumped off of the side of the bridge and landed on top of the fighter before flying off, Obi-Wan and Nitai deactivating their sabers as she departed.

Shortly afterwards, their communicators began to beep. "General Kenobi, this is Commander Cody, we've neutralized all the remaining droids in the courtyard, we are clear for extraction." "Good, we'll meet you there shortly." Obi-Wan said before turning to Nitai. "We shouldn't keep Cody waiting, and we'll want to get to Tatooine to pick up Anakin and Ahsoka." He said as they began to walk back towards the entrance that would lead them back into the temple.

"I agree, with any luck they'll get him there sooner rather than later, I wouldn't want to keep Jabba waiting for his kid to return." Nitai said as he followed his Master, he could practically hear his own heart beating in his chest, that had been the first time he had ever seriously dueled an opponent with the intent to kill or cause harm, and he was silently very grateful that Master Kenobi had been there, he doubted that he would have been able to defeat Ventress on his own, the assassin was not an opponent to take lightly. "…But one thing, Master, what was that whole 'my darling' thing about?" He asked, causing Obi-Wan to shrug in response. "You'd have to ask Ventress, she started it, I just play along since it seems to frustrate her when it fails to get under my skin."

As they made their way back to the courtyard a message came through on their imagecaster, and hologram of Anakin showed up, although strangely enough he appeared to be shaking. "Kenobi here, have you reached Tatooine yet?" He asked, responding to Anakin's hail. "Almost, but we ran into some small-" "Anakin, did you get shot down again?" Obi-Wan cut off his former Padawan. Ahsoka's head then popped into view and she spoke up. "Yes." She said, in a tone that was all too cheerful for someone who was in the process of being falling towards a planet.

"The ship is too slow, I haven't had time to modify it yet." Anakin protested and Nitai couldn't even find the words to express his current feelings. Were those two really bickering while being shot down? "Anakin, I'm still cleaning up your mess, but I'll get there, Obi-Wan out." Obi-Wan said before ending the transmission.

"Master, are you certain they'll even survive, I mean they're crash landing on a planet that is nothing but one giant desert?" Nitai asked, but his response was just a chuckle. "Don't worry, Anakin has survived much worse crashes than that, I have faith that he'll get Jabba's son back to him. You can help the clones transport the wounded, I have to send a message to Master Yoda to inform him of Dooku's plans, if all goes well he should be able to meet us and arrive on Tatooine to pick up Anakin and Ahsoka." Obi-Wan said, Nitai simply nodded as the leapt down onto the floor of the room they had battle Ventress in.

Once he had reached the courtyard he walked up to Commander Cody and Captain Rex and looked helplessly at the two of them. "I think my Master and his former apprentice are crazy." The two clones just looked at each other before turning their gazes back to the young Padawan. "Well of course they are, they're Jedi." Rex said jokingly, drawing a beleaguered groan, which only made the two clones laugh. "Don't worry kid, you'll get used to it, after all, you're a Jedi too." Rex said with a grin and Nitai smiled slightly as he placed a hand on his lightsaber. "Yes, I suppose I am."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey there, my delightful readers, I have come to deliver to yet another new chapter, and a recommendation alongside it. Just as I recommended Dragon Ball Abridged last time, today I'll be recommending YuGiOh Abridged, probably one of the most influential and well-known abridged series out there. If you haven't watched it, then do yourself a favor and fix that right now, or rather, right after you finish this chapter.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 6 (V. 1)**

* * *

 **No plan survives first contact with the enemy.**

* * *

 **Terror in Space!**

 **Throughout the galaxy, Republic fleets have been suffering catastrophic losses from Separatist surprise attack which leave no survivors. Rumors circulate of a terrifying new superweapon under the Separatist's command. Jedi Master Plo Koon has been sent, along with his fleet, to hunt down this mystery weapon.**

 **However, shortly after engaging the mysterious Separatist vessel, all contact was lost. Now, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with his Padawan, Nitai Zeama, have been put in charge of guarding a Republic supply convoy, in the hopes of protecting it from assault from the deadly vessel.**

* * *

The door hissed open as Nitai walked into the communications room alongside Obi-Wan. The two of them had been standing on the bridge of their cruiser, awaiting new orders for deployment. It had been a while since the mission to rescue the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt, and luckily the final portion of the mission was rather leisurely, simply picking up Master Yoda before journeying to Tatooine to collect Anakin and Ahsoka. Unfortunately, he hadn't had much chance to talk to his fellow Padawan on the journey back, since almost as soon as they arrived back on the Republic cruiser they were informed that they would shortly be separated as their respective Masters returned to their fleets. He and Obi-Wan had been waiting at their staging grounds for a few days when a clone trooper had told them that they were being hailed on a direct frequency from Coruscant.

Already present were holographic projections of Master Windu, Master Yoda, and Chancellor Palpatine, and they were quickly joined by projections of Anakin and Ahsoka. "Chancellor, Masters, we recently received a transmission from Master Plo Koon. He reported that he had discovered the Separatist weapon, and was moving to engage, however, his transmission was cut short and we have had no further contact with him despite sending repeated hails. The absence of distress beacons indicates that his fleet was…that his fleet was destroyed like the others." Anakin reported, pausing slightly as he and Ahsoka shared a look, the young Togruta looked particularly distressed at the news. "We are about to prepare a rescue mission."

"Hasn't clone intelligence reported that this weapon never leaves any survivors?" The chancellor asked.

"The Separatists are being unusually tidy, they don't want any witnesses." Obi-Wan added. "Tragic are these losses, but prevent more, we must." Master Yoda said.

"We will reassign all our battlegroups to guard our supply convoys, including yours Skywalker." Master Windu spoke up. "I'm afraid we can't risk any more ships with a rescue mission."

"Wait!" Ahsoka suddenly interrupted, it was clear that it had been difficult for her to remain silent throughout the entire briefing, it finally must have gotten too much to bear. "Just because there haven't been any survivors before, doesn't mean there won't be any this time." She said, while a part of Nitai did agree with her assessment, another part also believed that she might have just been hoping in vain that Master Plo might have survived, although he wasn't entirely certain why.

"Boldly spoken for one so young." The chancellor said as Ahsoka suddenly stepped back, doubtlessly intimidated by having all eyes on her and also knowing that she had spoken when she wasn't supposed to. "She is learning from Anakin." Obi-Wan said, somewhat amused at how much the young Togruta reminded her of his former Padawan.

"Excuse my Padawan. We will deploy as you have instructed Master." Anakin said, before his hologram faded out along with the other projections. Nitai hissed in sympathy, he recognized the tone that Anakin used, he'd been on the receiving end of it on more than a few occasions. That was the 'you just disobeyed a direct order from your teacher, and now you're going to get a talking too' tone.

"Ahsoka seems very attached to Master Plo, do they know each other well?" Nitai asked as he and Obi-Wan returned to the bridge, where they then informed the navigators of the location of the convoy that they would be linking up with to protect. "Hmm, if I recall properly, Master Plo was the one who discovered Ahsoka while on a mission to the Togruta homeworld of Shili. It's not uncommon for younglings to become close friends to the Jedi who first bring them to the Temple. I wouldn't be surprised if Ahsoka feels quite attached to him." Obi-Wan said.

"Ah, no wonder she seemed so desperate to try and get a rescue mission approved." Nitai said with a nod, however as they arrived and began to maneuver their cruisers to set up a defensive formation around the supply ships that they would be escorting he began to think, his left hand raising and unconsciously stroking his right cheek, a tic that nearly all of his species shared. He hadn't known Ahsoka and Skywalker for very long, but from what he had heard from the clones he had spoken to, Skywalker didn't seem like the type to leave a man behind, even if it seemed hopeless, and he also had a habit of 'creatively interpreting' the orders that he was sometimes given. Well he supposed he'd just have to wait and see, things were out of his hands now.

A short time later Nitai was staring out one of the bridge windows alongside Obi-Wan and Commander Cody. "Our ships are in defensive formation sir." Cody reported as he turned to the two Jedi.

"Very good, Commander, we'll check on Anakin's progress." Obi-Wan said as he and Nitai walked over to a screen, which flickered to life, showing Admiral Yularen and Captain Rex. "Admiral, how goes the escort?"

"Convoys are proceeding on schedule, general. No sign of enemy activity." Yularen responded. "And where's Skywalker?" Obi-Wan asked. "The General felt a redeployment of this fleet would increase our defensive perimeter." "Thank you, Admiral, that will be all." Obi-Wan said as the screen powered down and he turned to face Cody and Nitai while raising a hand to his chin. "Problem sir?" Cody asked, noting the concerned look on Obi-Wan's face. "Anakin has just redeployed himself, again." Obi-Wan sounded quite annoyed, as if this was a constant problem, and his mood probably wasn't improved all that much by the pleased grin on Nitai's face.

"It seems Skywalker has a penchant for this type of behavior. Say, Master, do you think you could send me on a mission with him some-" "Not any time soon, I already have trouble dealing with just one of him, and I imagine Ahsoka will probably take after him too, given time. One is enough, two I can handle, but three of him might just drive me mad." Obi-Wan said, cutting off his Padawan's sentence before he could even finish, before shuddering at the thought of trying to wrangle more than one Anakin.

"Come on, let's go see if we can get him to return to his fleet." Obi-Wan said wearily as he and Nitai returned to the communications room. After a few minutes their signal got through, and as expected, a hologram of Anakin and Ahsoka popped up, the two of them were seated and if Nitai was a betting man, he would have bet that meant that they were in the freighter that had been dubbed the _Twilight_ by Skywalker.

"Anakin, where are you?" Obi-Wan sighed. "Oh, hello Master, we uh, made a quick stop in the Abregado system." Anakin said, and Nitai had to give him points for at least trying to lie under the circumstances, even if the lie was unbelievably blatant, that took confidence. "A rescue mission I suppose, you had other orders." Obi-Wan scolded before Ahsoka spoke up.

"It was my idea Master Obi-Wan." "Oh, I'm sure." He said dryly before turning his attention back to Anakin. "Have you found any survivors?"

"No, you were right, the Separatists don't want any witnesses." Anakin said, disappointment evident in his voice. "That's all the more reason for you to rejoin the defensive escorts. We need you Anakin, if you don't hurry then you'll miss the rendezvous point with the fleet." Obi-Wan said. "Understood Master, we're on our way." Anakin replied before the hologram flickered out of existence.

"Nitai, you go out and keep an eye on the bridge, I must contact the chancellor and Master Yoda." Obi-Wan said, Nitai nodded in response before walking out onto the bridge. "Cody, how goes the convoy?" "Everything is going as planned, Commander, no sign of enemy ships." Cody reported as the two of them stared out at the ships as they flew through the void of space.

* * *

 **Several Days Later**

Nitai had been quite pleasantly surprised to learn that not only had Master Plo survived, but that Anakin and Ahsoka had actually located the Separatist ship, and as a result of their success the Senate had commissioned a special strike force specifically to hunt it down. The strike force would consist mostly of Anakin's fleet. Anakin's plan was to take a squadron of bombers and take out the command bridge of the ship, hopefully putting an end to General Greivous. Obi-Wan had told Nitai some stories about the fearsome cyborg General, and even that was enough to make Nitai shiver.

Nitai was currently standing on the bridge, watching the progress of the cruisers. He felt Obi-Wan enter the bridge, and only spoke up when his Master was a few feet away. "Any news on where Grievous might be next, Master?" He asked curiously.

"He's attacked a group of medical transports, we believe that his next target will be the Kaliida Shoals medical station near the Naboo system. Anakin will be taking his bombers ahead of us through a shortcut, with any luck they'll arrive and disable the ship before we do, I wouldn't want to risk our cruisers getting hit by that ion cannon." Obi-Wan said as the hangar opened up on one of the cruisers and a squadron of bombers flew out, soon followed by a Jedi starfighter. Nitai scowled at the thought of someone being willing to deliberately target a medical station, it was a viable and effective strategy, but there was something supremely distasteful about killing those who could hardly defend themselves.

"I assume that is Master Plo's ship." He said as he watched the starfighter fall into position behind the bombers. "Correct, he'll be providing support, we'll be taking a longer route around the nebula that Anakin plans to cut through, and Grievous will be doing the same. We hope to arrive before him, but I consider that unlikely." Obi-Wan responded before bringing up a communicator and patching in to Anakin's communication frequency. "I hope you know what you're doing Anakin."

"Well if I don't, I won't be around to hear the 'I told you so'." Anakin said, causing Nitai to chuckle slightly. "That's reassuring." Obi-Wan said sarcastically. "But you take your shortcut, and we'll take the long way, but you'd better be there before I arrive." "We'll be there Obi-Wan." Anakin said confidently.

"Ahsoka, keep an eye on your Master and try to make sure he doesn't do anything too crazy." Nitai said, patching in to the same frequency. "And R2, you keep an eye on Ahsoka to make sure that she doesn't try anything crazy either." He added, getting an affirmative series of beeps from R2.

"Don't worry Red, I'll make sure to be careful. Besides, Anakin requested that I be his gunner, I'm sure he wouldn't do anything that would put his precious Padawan at too much of a risk." Ahsoka responded jokingly before the communication was cut off so that the rest of shadow squadron could call in.

Nitai only raised a brow as the bombers and starfighter jumped to hyperspace before turning to Obi-Wan. "…Red? Would it be too much to ask for something a bit more memorable?" Obi-Wan just chuckled. "In my experience nicknames tend to stick, whether we want them to or not, I suppose you'll just have to get used to it." Nitai just sighed at his Master's words as the stars stretched out in front of them and the cruisers jumped to hyperspace.

Some time later, while Nitai was watching the blue, white, and black blurs streak by outside, they received a communication from Admiral Yularen. Nitai turned and walked over to the screen where Obi-Wan was already waiting. "General, the medical station reports that fifty percent of the patients have been evacuated."

"That's not good enough." Obi-Wan said as he stroked his beard, frustration creeping into his voice. "Not wholly bad, but still a far way from good." Nitai agreed.

"General Skywalker still has a chance to catch Grievous." Admiral Yularen said. "If he does, we have to be ready." "Yes sir." And with that, the communication cut off once again.

"So, Master, what's the plan?" Nitai asked as he followed Obi-Wan back to the main portion of the bridge. "Hopefully with the control bridge disable and Grievous dead, the ship won't be able to fire its ion cannon. We'll still have to worry about the rest of its armaments, but the fleet should be able to take it out."

"…And if we aren't able to take out Grievous along with the ion cannon?" Nitai enquired. "Then we'll have to settle for knocking that ship out of commission, there will be other opportunities to get Grievous." Obi-Wan answered. Nitai didn't even bother to ask what would happen if they weren't able to take out the ion cannon, because he already knew the answer to that. The cruisers were far too cumbersome to avoid the cannon's blast, if Anakin's mission failed, then the cruisers would be sitting ducks.

Eventually sirens began to wail, calling all clones to their battle stations. "We're dropping out of hyperspace, scans are picking up that the _Malevolence_ is already in the system, along with Skywalker!" One of the clone navigators shouted.

As the blur of hyperspace was replaced with the star-studded void of realspace Nitai and Obi-Wan were greeted with the sigh of the _Malevolence_. The ship was absolutely massive, larger than any that Nitai had ever seen before. But thankfully, a good portion of it was damaged, and the massive circular ion cannons on both sides had been completely destroyed. "They did it." He said, letting out a sigh of relief as the trio of Republic cruisers began to approach the damaged Separatist ship.

"Anakin, do you copy?" Obi-Wan said as they opened the communication frequencies. "I'm here." Anakin responded almost immediately. "Congratulations, it looks like your mission was a success." Obi-Wan said happily.

"Partially, but Grievous is still alive. The battle was pretty rough on my men, we're heading for the medical station." Anakin's tone seemed notably downcast, especially considering the confidence he had displayed when he first started the mission.

"We'll take it from here, you get your men some rest, we'll call when we need you." With that Obi-Wan closed the communication channels and directed his attention towards the crippled _Malevolence_. "Alright, let's finish what Anakin started, ahead full." He ordered, and Nitai watched as they drew closer and closer to the injured ship, the numerous laser cannons opening fire on the ship as they got within range.

Despite the best attempts by the Separatist ship to escape, its engines were too heavily damaged, and the Republic cruisers gradually began to gain ground, and with every passing second more and more of their lasers began to impact against the damaged ship's shields. However, the ship's hull was remarkably thick, and even in its damaged state it could still take quite a beating, and while they were doing increasing damage to the engines, the main body of the ship was turned away from them, and as a result still relatively shielded from their fire. Nitai stood on the bridge alongside Obi-Wan, Plo Koon, and admiral Yularen, watching as the massive Separatist vessel grew ever closer.

"Commander, what is the damage to the enemy ship?" Obi-Wan asked one of the clone officers.

"She's lost her primary shields and stabilizers, but the ship is so massive it can take all the fire our cannons can give it." The clone reported

"We must summon reinforcements if we are to have any chance of putting that ship down for good." Plo Koon said, and Obi-Wan seemed to consider it for a moment.

"That's why I'm here Master Plo." A familiar voice spoke up, causing the four of them to turn around to see Anakin and Ahsoka walking onto the bridge.

"Anakin, were you able to contact Master Luminara?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes Master, she's busy with a fleet of Separatist reinforcements nearby. She won't be able to give support until she's turned them away." He informed the gathered Jedi and Admiral.

"Then I suppose we'll have to make do with what we have." Obi-Wan sighed as their ship released yet another volley of cannonfire towards the rear of the Separatist ship. As the everyone else was focused on the enemy ship, Nitai sidled up next to Ahsoka. "So…he really led you through a nesting ground filled with giant space monsters?" He whispered excitedly. "Were they cool?"

"Cool?" Ahsoka asked incredulously. "Those things nearly swallowed us whole." She said. "Yeah, but they didn't." Nitai responded, and the Togruta just groaned. His enthusiasm about the rest of the galaxy was endearing at some times, but at others it was almost maddening, he seemed to find the idea of actually flying amongst a hoard of massive nebula mantas charming, rather than the absolutely horrifying experience it had been for her.

Before he could ask any more questions about her encounter with the massive manta, Obi-Wan spoke. "Admiral, status report." "They're not attempting to jump to hyperspace, their hyperdrive must be damaged." Admiral Yularen reported.

"This is our chance, all ships target the bridge, maximum firepower." Obi-Wan ordered, there was a brief pause as the ships readjusted their targeting to focus on the bridge, but when they resumed firing the effect was immediate, as several explosions could be seen on bridge's superstructure.

"Sir, we're picking up a signal near the enemy vessel." One of the clones reported. "Something just dropped out of hyperspace."

"Enemy reinforcements?" Anakin asked. "No sir, it looks like a…Naboo ship." Even the clone seemed confused by his own words, and the assembled Jedi all shared a confused look before Obi-Wan turned towards the gunners. "Gunners, stand down!" He ordered, and the sound of cannons quickly died coming from their ship, the silence seemed almost deafening, since Nitai had gotten so used to the sound of constant fire, though the cannons of the other ships continued to fire their sound was blocked out by the airless void of space. "What in blazes are they doing here?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Open up communications." Anakin ordered.

"Yes sir." The clone said before typing in a few commands at his station. "Naboo cruiser, identify yourself."

There was a brief pause before a female figure appeared above the imagecaster. "This is Senator Amidala." She said, and Anakin's response was immediate. "Padme? What are you doing out here?" He asked, fear and concern creeping into his voice.

"I was sent on a special mission. The Senate was told the Banking Clan wanted to negotiate a treaty." She explained. "Get out of there as fast as you can." Anakin said immediately after she had finished speaking. However, the Naboo vessel soon stopped moving, and actually began to reverse its direction. "Padme, what's happening?" Anakin asked.

"I'm being pulled inside the droid vessel by a tractor beam." She said as she looked around and fiddled with her controls, probably trying to find a way to increase power to her engines in the hopes of breaking out of the tractor beam's grip. "I will not be made a Separatist bargaining chip. Continue your attack, you must destroy this monstrous ship!" She said, determination burning in her eyes. Nitai's eyes widened in surprise at her conviction, not many people would have been willing to sacrifice their own life, especially on such sudden notice.

Anakin clenched his fist and shut his eyes before taking a deep breath and opening them and turning to Admiral Yularen. "Admiral, order all ships to stop firing." Yularen simply nodded in response before going to relay the orders. The other Jedi simply looked at Anakin with concern.

As the hologram of Senator Amidala faded, Anakin turned and began to walk off the bridge. "Where do you think you're going?" Obi-Wan asked as he followed his former Padawan.

"Somebody has to save her skin." Anakin responded, trying his best to maintain his usual cocksure attitude, although Nitai could tell from the tightness in his voice that he was much more concerned than he let on.

"I thought you might say that." Obi-Wan said with a slight grin, it seemed that even though Anakin may have gotten older, some things about him never changed.

"There he goes again, craving adventure and excitement." Master Plo said. "You get used to it." Ahsoka said heading to the command center in the rear of the bridge. Master Plo's gaze then turned to Nitai who just shrugged and gave a wry grin. "Adventure and excitement are why I left home in the first place, but I think I'll let Skywalker and Kenobi sort this out on their own, I'd probably just get in the way. Besides, they had that look on their face that they get when they're about to do something crazy, and I don't think I'm at the level where I can completely keep up with one of their harebrained schemes yet." He and Master Plo then followed Ahsoka, and when they reached the command center they sent a message to Master Luminar, with a hologram of the Jedi Master appearing shortly afterwards.

"Master Plo, Padawans." She said, bowing to the trio of Jedi. "Where are Masters Skywalker and Kenobi?" She asked. "Apparently, Senator Amidala of Naboo was lured here with false information and was captured by the Separatists. Kenobi and Skywalker have gone to infiltrate the ship and retrieve her, for the time being we've stopped our assault."

"Another bold strategy of Skywalker's devising, I presume." She responded, and Nitai was silently thankful that he hadn't been paired with Skywalker, he didn't think he'd be able to keep up with all these crazy schemes the Jedi Knight came up with. "That's my Master." Ahsoka said happily, and Nitai wondered if Jedi and Padawans were sorted together by degree of insanity or willingness to dive headfirst into danger without thinking.

"Once they make it off the _Malevolvence_ we'll need reinforcements to finish it off." Master Plo said. "I'm on my way, Master Plo." Luminara replied, her holographic projection fading out as Admiral Yularen walked up behind them.

"We're receiving a transmission from inside the _Malevolence_ , I believe it's the Senator." He said.

"Patch her through to General Skywalker and General Kenobi." He said as they made contact with the two Jedi Generals. They listened in as Anakin spoke to the Senator before he directed a question to them. "Ahsoka, how can we get to the Senator?"

"According to our scans there's a large, open area in the center of the ship. It should be halfway between the two of you." Ahsoka said as she looked at the readout of the ship that was on one of the scanners.

"But be careful when approaching it. If my hunch is correct a ship of that size would probably need a rail system to keep every part of it supplied, so that open area is probably where all of the lines run through, it's probably going to be hazardous and have quite a few droids running around." Nitai chimed in.

"We'll be careful, did you hear that Padme?" Anakin asked. "I'll be there." The senator replied before their connection was shut off.

"We should get the ships into attack position so that we can resume firing immediately once the Senator has been returned. Admiral, could you see to that?" Plo Koon said as he turned his attention to Admiral Yularen.

"Right away sir, I'll tell the other cruisers to get back into attack formation, they've drifted out of position a bit since we stopped firing." He said before turning to go and relay the orders to the other cruisers.

Plo Koon returned to the bridge, while Nitai and Ahsoka stayed in the command center so that they could receive transmissions from the ships once they had returned to position.

"Anakin seemed very concerned about this Senator, any idea why?" Nitai asked as he leaned over the holotable. "I haven't learned a whole lot about Anakin's past, but I did manage to learn that he and the Senator met during childhood and have been friends ever since." Ahsoka replied. That seemed to be a logical enough explanation for Nitai, he did know that Anakin had been taken in later than normal for Jedi training, so if he had bonded with the Senator when they were both young, before he'd joined the Jedi, then that bond likely would have persisted even despite the Order's general insistence that Jedi should try to avoid attachments.

It was a while before they received a message from the other two cruisers, but when they did they both headed up to the bridge. "The ships are in attack formation. Any news from Master Skywalker?" Ahsoka asked.

"No, the droids are jamming our transmissions." Plo Koon said. "Well then we need to give him more time." Ahsoka said, but Master Plo shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure we can." While it may have seemed cold, Nitai could understand the Master's concern, if Grievous managed to get his hyperdrive repaired then not only would he escape, but his ship would likely be repaired as well, and the mission would be considered a failure.

However, shortly afterwards Obi-Wan's voice came over the communications channel. "This is General Kenobi, we have departed the ship with the Senator, and are being pursued, you are free to open fire." The response from Plo Koon was immediate.

"All batteries, open fire." He ordered, and the ships immediately responded, letting loose volley after volley of blue laser fire, primarily directed at the _Malevolence_ but also aiming at the fighters which were pursuing the _Twilight_ , forcing them to take evasive maneuvers.

"General, scans indicate that the enemy's hyperdrive is engaging." One of the clones reported. "Focus fire on the engines, we can't let that ship escape." Master Plo ordered, however as he did so the ship began to pull out of range, but something was off.

"Uhh, why are they turning towards the moon?" Nitai asked as the ship began to pick up speed, however instead of aiming for some point in space it was continuing to turn in the direction of a small, barren moon. His question went unanswered as the ship continued to speed up, drawing closer and closer until eventually a white light pierced the darkness as it impacted against the surface of the moon at incredibly velocity.

"I'll bet that's Anakin's handiwork." Ahsoka said, looking incredibly proud at what her master had managed to pull off, and Nitai was inclined to agree, only Skywalker would have had the mind to do something like that. There was a brief pause as everyone seemed to take in what had happened, before the clones started to break into cheers and applause at the destruction of the vessel which had been responsible for so many Republic casualties.

"Looks like we at least won't have that ship to worry about. I just hope they'll give us some down time after this, I could use some rest at the Temple." Nitai said with a relieved smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, I'm coming at you rather quickly with another chapter. This one is probably going to be a bit short, it's just a bit of a breather chapter between arcs, I'll probably throw these chapters in every once in a while just to allow us to get a glimpse of smaller, more contained episodes of Nitai's time in the temple, it'll also give us an opportunity to see the down-time between major campaigns, after all a war isn't nonstop fighting, their are lull-periods, and I imagine that Jedi probably need some periods of rest every now and again, considering how frequently they're on the front lines or engaging in perilous missions.**

 **Also, before anyone goes saying that the lake level of the Jedi Temple seems odd or out of place, it's actually canon (or at least was canon before the whole Disney thing, now it's in a weird sort of Schrodinger's canon)**

 **Today's recommendation is a manga called** _ **Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu**_ **, it's about a boy who befriends the cool, elegant girl at his school that everyone thinks is just stoic and reserved, only to find out that the reason she seems so withdrawn is because she is terrified of talking to other people, to the point that she seems like she just straight up can't speak. He promises to help her gain friends, and hijinks ensue. It's a very cute, cozy little series.**

 **But enough about that, let's get on with the story.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 7 (V. 1)**

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Thankfully, Nitai's wish was granted and after reporting the destruction of the _Malevolence_ Anakin, Nitai, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka, were all instructed to return to Coruscant with their fleets so that they, and their troops, could enjoy some well-deserved rest.

This had also provided him with an excellent opportunity to further explore the Jedi Temple, along with the surrounding Temple District, and soon the sight of the red-skinned Padawan wandering through the halls of the Temple became a very regular one. However, he would only discover one of the more impressive sights of the Temple after being summoned by Master Kenobi to meet him near the main entrance of the Temple.

He saw his Master waiting near the entrance of the Temple and grinned as he suppressed his presence in the Force before walking up silently behind him. "You called for me Master Kenobi?" He said once he had stopped only about a foot away, and the unexpected sound of his voice caused the Jedi to startle slightly.

"Oh, Nitai, I didn't feel you arrive." Obi-Wan said as he turned to face his grinning Padawan. "That's to be expected Master, I'm very good at not being noticed when I don't want to be." Nitai responded before tilting his head quizzically as Obi-Wan handed him a lightsaber.

"Well, Anakin and I have decided that now would be a good time to test you and Ahsoka on your skills with a lightsaber so we can get an adequate assessment of your abilities. Of course, we don't want you to end up cutting each other, so we've procured some training sabers for you to use, they'll give you a shock, but won't do any serious damage." He said as Nitai took the blade and quickly ignited it, giving a few swings to test it out before deactivating it and slipping it onto his hip next to his real saber.

"Very well, Master, but where will we be doing this assessment?" Nitai asked as he began to follow Obi-Wan down a corridor that he hadn't had the chance to explore yet. "We'll be going to the lake level." Obi-Wan said, before catching the young Padawan's look of confusion and reminding himself that he hadn't spent a great deal of time in the Temple. "The lake level is a five-story complex inside the Temple, it's meant to serve as a meditative retreat, and a place to rest and relax. It feels like you're actually walking on the surface of a planet, and many apprentices like to visit between classes in order to swim in the lake or relax on the beach. Even some of the older Jedi like to spend time there, as it's a very tranquil place." Obi-Wan explained and Nitai nodded slightly in understanding. Back at his academy on Uostas more than a few meditation classes were held outside, to allow the students to more easily tap into the flow of the Force.

"I'm also interested in the style that you used against Ventress during that mission to rescue Jabba's son. The way that you turned your lightsaber on and off to slip past her guard reminded me of the Trakata style, an interesting choice. How exactly did you come to learn that style?" Obi-Wan asked, Trakata had initially been developed by a Jedi long ago, and was a very rarely used style, although some Jedi, such as Obi-Wan himself, had taken some of the moves from it, it was not very popular to learn as a primary style, since most Jedi did not want to rely on the large amounts of deception that were necessary to make the style effective.

"It actually is Trakata, or rather, an outgrowth of it. My people have been separated from the rest of the galaxy for centuries, Master, and I'm far from the first Force Sensitive to be born. And my people have learned how to construct crude replicas of lightsabers. The style I utilize, well the name literally translates as 'wild' style. It was given the name because of the large, seemingly uncontrolled swings that are characteristic of it. It relies heavily on making the opponent doubt their moves while also using everything possible as a weapon. My people tend to be rather pragmatic when it comes to combat, so it's not much of a surprise that philosophy extended to lightsaber combat. Part of the reason I deactivate my blade and reactivate it is because it makes the opponent even more uncertain of which attacks are feints and which are not, although I'm far from a master. Watching a true master of the style fight is like…like watching poetry in motion, every movement has a purpose despite appearing completely random." Nitai explained.

"Hmm, you mentioned that you aren't the first Force Sensitive to be born during your people's time cut off from the rest of the galaxy, what normally happens to Force Sensitives amongst your people?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping to get a bit more information out of Nitai, his Padawan had been a bit evasive about providing any concrete details about his people, and while that was within his right, since from what he had been told his people weren't very keen on the idea of rejoining the galactic community, it still would have been nice to know a bit more about where his young Padawan came from.

"It usually depends on what they want to do. Some choose to go join a group of Force sensitive monks, called the Twilight Walkers where they do the ponder the mysteries of the universe, that sort of thing. A few others choose to use it in ways that help them in their chosen profession, we've had quite a few doctors over the centuries who rose to great prominence due to their ability to heal others using the Force. I could have probably joined the monks if I wanted to, but well, a life of staying in one place didn't exactly appeal to me, I wanted to see what was out here in the wider galaxy." Nitai said, and pretty much all of what he said was true, he just underplayed how many of his people were Force sensitive. Most tended to use it for small, mundane things, since they didn't really concern themselves too much with learning to use it beyond basic abilities such the Force Push and Force Pull. But the Twilight Walkers were those who chose to plumb the depths of the Force, pondering it in depth and spending a great deal of time meditating. "The Twilight Walkers can be a good source of wisdom, although they tend to phrase it in a rather frustrating manner. They love to ask questions that don't really have answers in order to get you to think, very frustrating the first few times you meet them, but you get used to it."

Eventually they reached the lake level, and as the doors slid open and they stepped out onto the grass, Nitai was shocked to see the greenery that suddenly surrounded them. Just as Obi-Wan had said, it was like walking out onto the surface of a planet, there were trees planted along dirt paths and near benches, and there was a large lake near the center of the massive room, there were even lights placed strategically overhead to mimic the amount of light that there was outside.

"Master, good to see you didn't keep us waiting." Anakin said with a confident grin as he waved the two Jedi over. He and Ahsoka were waiting on a stretch of sandy beach near the edge of the lake, Nitai could see a few young Jedi lounging in the distance, skipping rocks along the water's surface, while several older Jedi sat beneath the shade of the trees, meditating.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Anakin. Nitai, why don't you and Ahsoka go and get ready, we'll tell you when to begin." The two young Padawns nodded and took up position about a dozen feet from one another.

"Don't even think of going easy on me, Red, because I certainly won't." Ahsoka said with a smile as she dropped into her stance and ignited her training saber. "Wouldn't dream of it, Soka, and I'd be insulted if you did." He retorted as he ignited his saber and gripped it loosely in his right hand. "Soka, couldn't think of anything better?" She said jokingly. "I put about as much effort into yours as you put into mine." He teased.

"On my mark, 3, 2, 1, begin!" Anakin shouted, and the two young Padawans rushed towards one another. Once they were close enough Ahsoka opened up by bring her lightsaber towards him in a sweeping slash, but when he raised his lightsaber to block he suddenly switched it off and instead ducked underneath the swipe while sidestepping her, coming back up behind her before pivoting and reigniting his saber and thrusting it towards her back as she stumbled forward, not having met the resistance that she had been anticipating. However, instead of trying to halt her momentum she instead continued forward, somersaulting forward to avoid his thrust and coming back up to her feet before turning around, just in time to block a swipe his saber. "That was a dirty trick, Red." She said as their blades locked. "Oh, far from my dirtiest, I can assure you." He chirped happily before they both broke the lock and jumped back, slowly circling one another.

"Hmm, that's unusual." Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin watched their students close in and begin to strike at each other. "What is it, Master?" Anakin asked, he hadn't noticed anything particularly unusual about the duel aside from Nitai's style, which admittedly did seem rather odd, it looked like the flailings of a complete amateur, yet every time Ahsoka tried to exploit them, she found her swings being either blocked or dodged.

"Nitai is using his saber in his right hand, but on Christophsis and against Ventress he held it in his left." Obi-Wan explained, and as if on cue, Nitai switched his blade from his right hand to his left and renewed his assault, his strikes coming much faster and more precisely now that he was using his dominant hand.

"He let her fall into a rhythm while using his right hand, then switched it up by passing it to his dominant hand, an impressive strategy, but risky." Anakin commented, rather impressed by the young Padawan's thinking, by deliberately using his offhand he allowed Ahsoka to think she had an idea of how fast he was, and so the sudden increase in speed when switching to his dominant hand would come as a surprise. Indeed, the Togruta slowly began to give ground as she tried to adjust to the new rhythm of his attacks, although now he seemed to also be switching that up as well, deliberately trying to keep her off balance by using a series of feints with his saber. "And of course, there's the advantage that comes with being left-handed." Obi-Wan added, most species in the galaxy tended to be predominantly right-handed, and so most Jedi were trained under the assumption that their opponent would be right-handed as well, which could leave them at a distinct disadvantage when facing a left-handed opponent, who would typically also be trained to fight right-handed individuals.

However, despite his unusual style and Ahsoka's inexperience fighting left-handed opponents he was still unable to land any solid hits on her, his lightsaber grazed near her several times, but her superior flexibility and acrobatic fighting style made her difficult to land a hit on. In addition, he hadn't had much experience fighting opponents that were as agile as her, and he had to bend into some very awkward positions when she leapt over him at several points in their spar and swiped towards his head.

The spar continued for nearly a quarter of an hour, as the two young Jedi were just skilled enough from keeping one another from landing any solid hits. But eventually, their bodies began to tire, Nitai saw an opening in Ahsoka's defense and swung at her, switching his lightsaber off just long enough to slip past her defenses before reigniting it, however as he did so she also thrust her lightsaber forwards, both Padawans paused just before their blades connected, his lightsaber hover beside her midsection and the tip of her saber not even half an inch away from his throat. The two of them were breathing heavily and their gazes were locked, determination blazing in their eyes. However, after a while, a smile broke out over Nitai's face, and it wasn't long before Ahsoka mirrored that. The two deactivating their sabers as they slumped to the floor, laughing, the tension finally dissolving as they both realized that they had just spent nearly a quarter of an hour sparring, using pretty much every trick they could think of, only to end in a draw.

"Good show, you two. You put in a very impressive display of your skills." Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin approached their exhausted apprentices. "Indeed, now that we have an idea of how you fight we'll be able to work on improving your weak points." Anakin agreed, although his tone sounded a bit disappointed.

"Ha…ha…ha, is something wrong, Master?" Ahsoka said as she and Nitai slowly recovered from their laughing fit. Anakin and Obi-Wan had the decency to look slightly abashed as Anakin admitted. "Well…Obi-Wan and I decided that whoever's Padawan ended up losing, their Master would have to pay for dinner at a rather nice restaurant that Padme recommended to us."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Master, so shameful to be on a fair, innocent spar between two Padawans." Nitai said as he crawled back to his feet, brushing the sand off his robes as he did so. "I agree, what would the Council think of such shameful behavior?" Ahsoka chimed in, although the two Padawan's shared a conspiratorial look. "In fact, since the duel ended in a draw neither of you won, but I think you should find a way to repay us for this little deception." Nitai said, and the two Masters exchanged a nervous look, they recognized that tone, that was a 'we're about to blackmail you shamelessly' tone. "Indeed, perhaps they should take us out to this restaurant, and pay for us." Nitai added before Ahsoka spoke up again. "I agree, a rather light punishment for deceiving us innocent, naïve Padawans for such wicked purposes." The two Padawans grinned at their Masters, who just sighed in defeat.

"It seems we've allowed ourselves to be outmaneuvered on this one, Anakin." Obi-Wan said as he and Anakin shared another look. "I think our Padawans are picking some things up a bit too fast." Anakin replied.

"Don't worry Master, we'll make sure not to order anything too expensive." Ahsoka said, although both Anakin and Obi-Wan could tell by the mischievous gleam in their eyes that the two Padawans probably weren't going to stick to that promise.


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome once again, ladies and gentlemen. I have brought to you yet another chapter of Walking a Tightrope, and with it, another recommendation. Today's recommendation (and the source of the quote) is the Ciaphas Cain series of novels. These are practically mandatory reading for anyone who is even passingly interested in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, and just really good and entertaining books in their own right. This chapter focuses a bit more on dialogue and some interaction with Nitai and Obi-Wan, and we might start to see a few small deviations now that he's around and being a bit of an influence on the other characters, although since Obi-Wan didn't do a whole lot during this particular arc it's mostly limited to speaking. But next chapter will be an original arc, which will allow me a bit more room to get creative.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 8 (V. 1)**

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 **When the traitor's hand strikes, it strikes with the strength of a legion**

* * *

 **After suffering several defeats at the hand of General Grievous, the Republic's foothold in the Outer Rim grows more and more tenuous. Anakin Skywalker and his weary battle group have been commissioned to protect the strategic world of Bothawui, and they are all that stands between the system, and domination by the droid army.**

* * *

While the rest at the Jedi Temple had been welcomed, it wasn't long before Nitai, Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan were sent back to their fleets, although thankfully it seemed that there was a brief lull in the war along their particular front for a while. The only brief moment of excitement came when General Grievous tried to sneak by one of the Republic listening outposts to attack Kamino, although thankfully the clones manning the station had managed to destroy it, alerting the fleet and allowing them to drive off Grievous' forces after a quick space battle. However, recently the General had been making more devastating attacks, assaulting some of the least defended fleets and causing no end of stress amongst several Jedi commanders.

At the moment Nitai was standing with Obi-Wan in the command center of their fleet's flagship, staring at a projected image of Anakin, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex.

"Among our most recent losses is the battle group at Falleen. The Separatist fleet headed by General Grievous is headed your way." Obi-Wan reported, having only recently received the report from their agents about the destruction of the Falleen battle group.

"It seems like that coward always knows where and when to attack us." Anakin said, and the tenseness was evident in his voice. Nitai could hardly blame him for his frustration, from what he had heard Anakin and his troops had been constant harassment in one form or another, the fighting hadn't even been particularly fierce, but it had been so constant that he would be surprised if any of the troops, or even Anakin himself, had gotten a solid night's rest.

"You're heavily outnumbered Anakin, I suggest retreat." Obi-Wan cautioned, but Anakin didn't even seem to give that option a moment's consideration. "If we run, the Separatists will take control of this sector, we can't let them do that." He argued.

"And that is your problem." Obi-Wan responded, Nitai found himself a bit torn, on the one hand he could sympathize with Anakin's desire to protect the sector, but on the other, there was seemingly no way for him to defeat Grievous' fleet in his current condition.

"Master Kenobi is right, we should regroup, we don't stand a chance against-" "Ahsoka." Anakin quickly cut off his young Padawan, but she seemed determined to make her opinion known. "Suicide is not the Jedi way, Master."

"You should listen to your Padawan." Obi-Wan spoke up, and Anakin only turned his attention back to him. "As you listened to yours, my old Master? No, we are going to stay and fight, and I think I know how to beat Grievous at his own game." Anakin said, and a smaller projection of an AT-TE walker appeared. As Anakin began to explain his plan, a wicked grin started to spread across Nitai's face, oh yes, he definitely liked the way Master Skywalker thought.

"Only you would think up a plan as crazy as this, Anakin." Obi-Wan sighed. "But it sounds like it might work. But if it looks like it isn't working then I expect you to pull back, you'll be no help to anybody if you're dead."

"Don't worry, Master, when have my plans ever failed us before?" It seemed Obi-Wan didn't take the obvious bait, and the transmission cut out.

"Master Skywalker seems to have a penchant for unconventional tactics, I like it." Nitai said as he and Obi-Wan returned to the bridge.

"Yes, but what concerns me is how Grievous has managed to attack us so precisely." Obi-Wan said as they looked out over their arrayed cruisers.

"I agree, I expected him to try and attack us with more rigor after the loss of the _Malevolence_. After all, I doubt that the Separatist leaders, especially Dooku, are happy at the loss of such an important and expensive ship. But these attacks are a bit too accurate for my liking." Nitai said as he rubbed his chin.

"I think I know what you're getting at, and I share your suspicions, hopefully when Anakin contacts us again he'll have some good news, and then we can discuss just how Grievous could be getting such accurate information on our fleets." Obi-Wan added.

* * *

It was a few hours before they received any report back from Anakin's fleet, but when they did it came in the form of a rather downtrodden looking Anakin.

"Master, I'm here to report that Grievous escaped, but his fleet has been destroyed." He said, with an unusual lack of enthusiasm, normally Nitai would have assumed that the destruction of such a large fleet, even with the escape of Grievous, would have put Anakin in a very chipper mood.

"Congratulations Anakin, the destruction of that fleet will save a lot of lives, and your resourcefulness continues to amaze me." Obi-Wan said with a proud look.

"Thank you, Master." Anakin said, this time his sadness seemed a lot more evident and Obi-Wan looked concerned, he had expected his former apprentice to be practically glowing at his success.

"You look troubled, is something wrong?" Obi-Wan asked. "I lost R2 in the field." Anakin said as he raised his gaze to once more look at his old Master.

"Well R2 units are a dime a dozen, I'm sure you'll find a suitable replacement." Obi-Wan said and Nitai recoiled at his Master's words, his face showing a mixture of shock and even a bit of anger. Anakin seemed to share the young Padawan's feelings, although in his case it seemed that anger was the predominant emotion, as he clenched his fist before exhaling to try and calm himself.

"I could take a squad out there, track him down." Anakin said, trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

"Anakin, it's only a droid. You know attachment is not acceptable for a Jedi." Obi-Wan said, Nitai tried to suppress the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. No matter what way he looked at it he still had trouble reconciling the Jedi's desire to avoid attachment with the teachings that he had received. Although so far, he had managed to avoid bringing it up, since he didn't want to start causing trouble, he knew that there were many in the order who were keeping an eye on him due to who he had been trained by, not everyone was glad to see a disciple of Seer Chiida, especially one who had been raised outside of the Order, welcomed into the fold.

"It's not just that, Master. Uh, how do I put this?" Anakin muttered slightly to himself. "I…didn't wipe R2's memory." He admitted.

This revelation certainly got a reaction out of Obi-Wan. "What? He's still programmed with our tactics and base locations? If this Separatists get a hold of him…" The rest of his thought didn't even need to be spoken aloud, they all knew what would happen if the Separatists managed to get their hands "What possessed you not to erase that droid's memory?"

"Master Obi-Wan, sometimes R2 having that extra information has come in handy." Ahsoka said, coming to her Master's defense, she knew that Anakin was broken up about R2's loss, and having Obi-Wan scold him probably wasn't going to do him any good.

"Well, then find that droid, Anakin. Our necks might very well depend on it." Obi-Wan said, and Anakin looked practically overjoyed at the permission to go out and look for R2. "Right away, Master." He said, a relieved smile spreading across his face as he ended the transmission.

Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw the hologram fade. However, he was broken out of his internal musings by Nitai's voice.

"Just a droid? Dime a dozen? I certainly hope you don't let S1 hear such words, he might decide to take umbrage. And despite what you might think, droids like R2 and S1 are quite irreplaceable." Nitai said as he turned and headed out towards the bridge, although anyone who looked at him could tell from the set of his shoulders and the stiffness of his gait that he was not pleased with what his Master had said.

Obi-Wan only shook his head, realizing that he might have misspoke in his conversation with Anakin, and his words had clearly affected Nitai. He would have to apologize to the two of them later, he had never gotten particularly close to any of his droids, but he did know from experience that quite a few people did form very tight bonds with them, especially when they allowed they didn't periodically wipe their droids' memories and allowed them to develop personalities. It was a bit of a gray area for most Jedi, who typically discouraged attachments, although most didn't form close bonds with their droids, there were some notable exceptions, and most agreed to look the other way most of the time when a Jedi developed an attachment to a particular droid, since most of the time those attachments didn't get in the way of performing their duties, and most people were more capable of handling the loss of a droid than the loss of a person.

After receiving another report from Anakin and confiding to him about reports indicating that Grievous had been intercepting their transmissions, Obi-Wan walked out onto the bridge and stood next to Nitai.

"It seemed our suspicions were correct, Grievous likely has a listening post somewhere that is feeding him information, or an agent in our ranks, possibly both." He said, Nitai only nodded in acknowledgement. "I've sent Anakin and his battle group out to try and find it, with any luck they'll be able to put it out of commission." This seemed to draw no visible response from Nitai.

Obi-Wan sighed at his young Padawan's change in demeanor, it was upsetting to see someone normally so upbeat become so dour. "I understand that what I said in there upset you, and I'm sorry. I spoke too hastily and didn't consider how you or Anakin might feel. I just believe that he's a bit too…attached to R2."

Nitai's shoulders slumped as he glanced at Obi-Wan out of the corner of his eye. "It's okay, Master, I understand that not everyone views droids the same way. But with me and S1, and for Anakin and R2, they aren't just tools, they're people. To suggest just abandoning one and replacing him…that just doesn't seem like something a Jedi should do, we should be willing to try and save everyone, no matter who or what they are." He said, and his words made Obi-Wan smile. He had had some Jedi confide in him concerns that Nitai might not be fit to be a Jedi due to who he had been trained by, but it seemed that those fears were completely unfounded.

"You have a good heart, Nitai. I'm sure you'll make a fine Jedi, someday. I'll apologize to Anakin when we have some time together." He said as he placed a hand on Nitai's shoulder, and the red-skinned Padawan smiled, both at the praise, and at Obi-Wan's willingness to apologize to his former apprentice. He may not have changed his views on droids, but perhaps Obi-Wan might be a bit more willing to see things from Anakin's perspective.

* * *

Shortly afterwards they received a transmission from Anakin, and returned to the command center.

"Anakin." Obi-Wan said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Master, I believe we've found your Separatist listening post." Anakin said confidently, and Nitai smiled a bit as he saw a grin on Anakin's face, he recognized that type of grin. It was the type of grin only sported by people who had gone against orders and realized that things had turned out even better than they would have if they had stuck to the plan, he had sported that exact look on more than enough occasions to be able to recognize it at an instant.

"Excellent work, back off and wait, I'll send two main line cruisers to help you destroy it." Obi-Wan ordered, a hologram of Ahsoka suddenly appeared beside Anakin and said something to him, although it was too soft to be picked up.

"We believe my droid is the one that led us here." Anakin said, and Nitai realized just why Anakin had been looking so pleased a few moments before.

"Hmm, that complicates things. You must sneak aboard that station and destroy it before they crack R2's memory banks. Anakin, I'm sorry for what I said earlier, I know how fond you are of that droid. You can try and rescue him, but don't let your emotions cloud your vision. If they manage to get the secrets from his memory, then we will almost certainly lose this war, and countless people will die, if the choice has to come between saving R2 and destroying the station…" Obi-Wan left the sentence unfinished, knowing that Anakin would understand his meaning.

"Understood, Master. But don't you worry, we'll knock out that station, and get R2 back." Anakin said with a smile as the hologram flickered out of existence.

"Don't worry, Master. I'm sure he'll make the right decision if he has to." Nitai said with a small smile as his gaze drifted over to Obi-Wan. "But you know he's probably going to send Ahsoka and the clones to take it out while he looks for R2 himself." He said knowingly, causing Obi-Wan to sigh.

"Yes, yes I suppose he will." The older Jedi said with a bemused smile.

* * *

They didn't have to wait that long to receive yet another transmission from Skywalker, who quickly recapped the details of their successful mission.

"So, let me get this straight, Anakin. You deliberately blew up a station that you were still on, putting yourself, your men, and your Padawan at risk to save R2. Anakin, I approved of your attempt to rescue him, but you put a lot of people at risk." Needless to say, Obi-Wan wasn't exactly happy at his former apprentice pulling yet another of his risky stunts.

"R2 found the listening post and led us there, we couldn't just leave him." Anakin protested.

"One day Anakin, one of these plans of yours is going to explode in your face." Obi-Wan sighed as the transmission terminated. He turned to Nitai, who was grinning like a cat that had just discovered an entire species of defenseless, flightless birds. "And what exactly are you looking so pleased about?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing much, Master. Just wondering if you might be willing to lend me over to Master Skywalker for a bit. A daring escape from a collapsing and exploding Separatist station sounds like quite the adventure." Nitai chirped happily.

"Not on your life, I can only imagine what havoc the two of you would wreak together." Obi-Wan responded, shuddering slightly at the thought of just what Nitai and Anakin would end up getting themselves into if they ever teamed up for a prolonged period of time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, dear readers, here we go, my first original arc for this series. I can only hope that you will find it satisfactory, and I encourage you to leave feedback, just remember to keep it civil and polite. You can't see me and I can't see you, but that's no excuse for rudeness and impropriety.**

 **Today's recommendation is Lost in Adaptation, a Youtube series by The Dom, where he examines various types of adaptations, typically adaptations from books to film or television, and goes over what was left out, what was changed, what was done better or worse in the adaptation compared to the original, etc.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 9 (V. 1.1)**

* * *

 **Fear not the man who rejoices in his power, but instead fear he who tastes the urge to revel in strength, and yet denies it.**

* * *

 **A world in peril!**

 **As the battle rages for the Outer Rim continues to rage, supply lines become ever more important, as the Separatists and Republic vie for control of vital Mid Rim territories. If the Separatists manage to take these worlds, then not only will the Republic lose vital lanes to resupply their clone armies, but the Separatists will also be able to strike at the more densely populated worlds of the Inner Rim.**

 **One of these vital Mid Rim worlds, the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia, has recently fallen under Separatist attack. After receiving the desperate transmissions from Iridonia, the Republic has dispatched the 501** **st** **legion, and the 212** **th** **attack battalion to help retake the planet.**

 **However, the Jedi generals normally assigned to these units, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, have been assigned on a mission to negotiate for a captured Count Dooku, and so command of these forces, along with Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Nitai Zeama, has been delegated to Masters Plo Koon and Mace Windu.**

* * *

Most of Nitai's deployments over the weeks after Anakin had destroyed the Separatist listening outpost had been rather quiet. There had been a few skirmishes with small droid raiding parties, but it seemed that for the time being the two sides were content to test each other's fronts with probing attacks, looking for any potential weaknesses.

However, everything had changed with the apparent capture of Count Dooku by a group of Outer Rim pirates. Obi-Wan and Anakin had been tasked with capturing the count on one of the Separatist flagships, the two had failed, but the Count's ship had crashed on an isolated planet, and the two Jedi had pursued him, although he had once again managed to slip through their grasp, while the two generals also managed to trap themselves in a cave with a feral animal that Nitai would later learn was called a Gundark. They had only managed to escape death via either enraged Gundark or suffocation after accidentally uncovering a pocket of poisonous gas, by the timely arrival of Nitai, Ahsoka, and a detachment of clone troopers. The young Padawans had then silently agreed that they would be holding that little factoid over their masters' heads for quite a while.

Shortly after they had returned to their fleets, they received a message from the Chancellor and the Council informing them of Dooku's capture, and the offer that had been made for him to be ransomed back to the Republic, and Obi-Wan and Anakin had been selected to travel to the pirate's base in order to make sure that they actually had Dooku in custody.

At the moment Nitai was standing alongside Ahsoka, Captain Rex, and Commander Cody in one of the hangars, awaiting the Masters who would be temporarily overseeing, since even if Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to complete their mission in time, it was doubtful that they'd be able to join the assault.

"Commanders, the generals' starfighters are incoming, they will be landing in just a moment." A voice came through on their communicators.

"Copy that, bridge, we are awaiting in the hangar." Ahsoka said, and just as she finished speaking the protective roof to the hangars landing strip opened up, and a pair of starfighters entered after unlatching from their hyperspace rings.

As one of the Jedi Masters emerged a wide smile spread across Ahsoka's face. "Master Plo!" She said excitedly as she ran up to the Kel Dor.

"It is good to see you again, Little Soka." The Master Jedi said affectionately, though his mask may have obscured most of his features, it was clear by the tone of his voice that he was happy to see the young Togruta.

"Padawan Tano, Padawan Zeama." Another voice chimed in, and Ahsoka and Nitai turned to see Mace Windu emerge from his fighter. "Master Windu, an honor to have you fight alongside us." Nitai said as he bowed, he was a bit nervous at Master Windu's presence. He hadn't been the most vocal opponent when Nitai had asked to join the Order, but every time that the two were in the same room Nitai felt as if he was being picked apart by the older Jedi's gaze. He had eventually learned that Master Windu was very wary of any Jedi who might fall to the Dark Side, particularly since Vaapad, the form of lightsaber combat he had developed, involved treading dangerously close to the Dark Side, reflecting an opponent's aggression and rage back upon them by letting it flow through the user. If any Jedi knew the dangers of the Dark Side, it was Master Windu, which meant that of all the Jedi, aside from Master Yoda, he was probably the one who was most likely to unravel Nitai's deception, which was something that the young Padawan could not allow.

"So, Master Plo, what's the plan?" Ahsoka asked as the Jedi and Clone Commanders set off to the command center.

"Patience, young one, you will learn of the plan once we reach the command center, we will be leading the assault so it is important you know what we will be facing." Plo Koon chuckled slightly at the young Togruta's eagerness.

"But what we can say, is that it will be a tough fight, the Separatist forces took the planet by surprise and managed to take several key ports on the planet." Master Windu elaborated as they finally reached the command center and brought up a projection of Iridonia. Nitai had done some research on the planet in order to make his cover story more believable, and it was just as the books had described, continents covered in deep valleys, and numerous seas, many of which were composed of acid, rather than water.

"These are the areas that the Separatists have managed to seize." Master Plo said, as an explosion of red dots covered several of the valleys, indicating Separatist emplacements and troop concentrations, the densest cluster seemed to be around the largest valley, which ran almost directly from North to South near the equator.

"Of particular note is this valley, here." Master Windu said as he indicated the largest valley, and Nitai already started to get a tingling feeling on the back of his neck, if he had been inclined to gamble, he would bet that they were going to be assaulting there. "This valley contains a majority of the planet's spaceports and landing pads, due to the high winds that rage across the surface of the planet it is nearly impossible to land large amounts of troops directly on the surface. The Separatists are landing a majority of their forces here, and then deploying them across the rest of the planet, if we want to stem the tide of Separatist reinforcements, we're going to have to take that valley."

"That looks like a lot of entrenched clankers, sir, our gunships would be shot out of the sky before we even got halfway down into the valley." Captain Rex said as he rubbed his chin, staring at the hologram as if gazing at it even more intently would reveal some secret that it had yet to give up.

"Indeed, they have even set up shield generators in order to protect their positions from orbital bombardment. But thankfully, that is not our plan. Most of the landing pads in the trench are concentrated towards the Northern edge, and so that is where most of the defensive emplacements have been established, the Southern edge of the valley consists of forests and only has two installations with shield generators. Unfortunately, it is those installations that hold a majority of the droid anti-aircraft and anti-starship weaponry." Master Plo explained, and Commander Cody perked up, looking as if he had just realized something.

"So…if we take out those emplacements, we can clear out the Southern portion of the valley, and fight our way north to retake the spaceports." Ahsoka said as she drummed her fingers on the edge of projection table.

"Master Windu, you mentioned that it would be nearly impossible to land a large number of troops on the surface due to the wind. What about only a dropship or two?" Nitai asked.

"I'm glad to see you two are thinking a few steps ahead, your Masters have trained you well." Master Plo said, seeming quite pleased that the two young Padawans had worked out the plan for ourselves. "The droids know that it would be insanity to try and land a major force on the surface, but they have blinded themselves, all their sensors are focused on detecting threats directly approaching the valleys. We will be landing two squads outside of their detection zone, and move in on the bunkers. We have two goals, to disable the shield generators, and sabotage or destroy their anti-ship cannons. Then we'll be able to move our ships in and bombard the area, softening it up for the rest of our troops to land."

"Padawan Zeama will be joining me along with a team from the 212th to disable the bunker on the Eastern rim of the valley, while Master Plo will take you, Padawan Tano, along with a team from the 501st to disable the Western emplacement." Master Windu then turned to the two clone commanders. "It will be your job to select the men who will be assigned for this mission, it needs to be a small group, only four or five clones, maximum. We'll need to be stealthy for this mission, so we can't afford to take a larger group."

"Yes, sir." The two clones said in unison as the saluted. "We'll get on that immediately, we'll have the teams selected by the time we reach Iridonia." Commander Cody said as he and Rex turned and exited the command station.

"Well, Masters, it's good to know that we have a plan for the ground assault, but aren't we first going to have to break the Separatist blockade?" Nitai asked as he glanced between the two senior Jedi.

"Have faith, young Padawan, we wouldn't have begun planning the ground assault if we didn't have a plan for the Separatist fleet as well." Master Plo said as a few Separatist battleships appeared hovering around the projection of Iridonia. "Several of the Separatist warships have left orbit and exited the system, presumably they did not expect us to respond so quickly, and they thought they could gather more troops and return to have them aid in the ground assault before facing any Republic ships. With their forces currently depleted we'll be able to wipe out the blockade, and when the Separatists ships return, they will find our cruisers waiting for them." He said, and Nitai tried his best the wicked grin on his face at the thought of a group of Separatists ships dropping out of hyperspace into what they expected to be friendly territory, only to immediately come under fire. He still recalled his similar experience above Christophsis and it would be nice to turn the situation around on the droids, even if he likely wouldn't be there to witness it directly.

"Hit them when they don't expect it and let their reinforcements waltz right into a trap when they get back. I love it. Let's just hope that they don't end up bringing more ships back. It would be a bit of a shame if we go through all the trouble of blowing up those emplacements only to have our cruisers otherwise occupied and unable to take advantage of the opening." He said.

"All the more reason for us to take them out as quickly as possible. We'll be dropping out of hyperspace in about two hours. Once the Separatist fleet has been destroyed we'll meet in the hangar along with our infiltration teams, and make our way to the surface. I suggest you two take some time to prepare." Master Windu said, causing the two young Padawans to nod.

"We will be ready, Masters." Ahsoka said as she and Nitai turned and exited the command center.

"Soooo…" Nitai said once he was certain that the doors had shut behind them and the Masters could no longer hear them. "Thirty credits to the first one to finish their part of the mission?" He said with a wry grin.

"I'm disappointed in you Red. What would Master Obi-Wan say?" She said before a similar smirk spread across her face. "I'd tell you what Master Skywalker would say, that it's way too low, make it fifty and you've got a bet."

"You're on, Soka. I can already hear them clinking in my pocket." He said before the two split up, heading down separate hallways towards their quarters so that they could check over their sabers and equipment to prepare for their mission.

Nitai could feel their ship drop out of hyperspace and held his breath for a few moments as he felt the ship shudder slightly as a flurry of laser fire impacted against its shields. He exhaled and took a few more deep breaths to calm himself before strapping his lightsaber to his hip and making his way towards the hangar. He knew that if he ran he'd only make his heart beat faster, and increase the risk of him panicking.

When he reached the hangar most of the fighters had already been scrambled in order to deal with the droid fightercraft, he could see droid and clone fighters zip over the hangar doors, although it seemed that the clones were getting the better of their droid counterparts.

It seemed that Master Plo had already arrived and was conversing with Rex and Cody near a pair of dropships. "Master Plo, I'm ready for the mission." He said with a bow.

"It is good to see that you are so eager, young Padawan. I believe that Ahsoka is still preparing, and Master Windu is still up on the bridge, overseeing the battle, he will be down shortly after it concludes." Master Plo said as the ship shook slightly once more, causing Nitai to freeze slightly before relaxing once the trembling had ceased.

"Not used to space battles, sir?" Commander Cody asked, curious about the young Padawan's reaction.

"Yes." Nitai admitted after calming himself down once again. "I'm the first person to really leave my planet in centuries. I'd never even been to space before I left to join the Jedi, and that wasn't all that long ago. The idea of being in space, only a hull breach away from death, with people shooting at me…let's just say it'll take some getting used to." He said, and Cody patted the young Padawan on the shoulder.

"Don't worry kid, we're the flagship, so we're at the back of the formation, we'll be taking way less fire. Besides, those clankers are terrible shots, and we outnumber their ships, so there's no way they'll be able to put out enough fire to even put a dent in our shields." He said reassuringly. "Come on, let's get your mind off it, I'll introduce you to your squad." He said with a small smile as he led the red-skinned Padawan over to a collection of four clones, who were lazing about on a few crates near one of the gunships. He noticed that they had exchanged their typical white armor for sandy camouflage, a smart move, considering that their normal armor would have made them stick out like sore thumbs, he was also thankful that his armor was mostly covered by his robes, meaning that he wouldn't have to worry about it giving him away.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet Commander Zeama, he'll be joining us along with General Windu for this operation." Cody said as he nudged Nitai forward a few steps, the Padawan immediately drawing the attention of the quartet of clones.

"Commander." One of the clones said rising and snapping to attention. "I'm CT-26-1996. I'm the Corporal in charge of fire team Mynock." He said as he gave a quick, crisp salute. As expected, the Corporal was identical to his troops, although he had vertical, solid black tattoos emerging from under his eyes and travelling down his cheeks before cutting off at his jawline.

"Seems like a bit of a mouthful to have to call out in a fire fight. Anything else you'd like me to call you?" Nitai asked with a small grin and one of the other clones nudged the Corporal's side.

"Told you we wouldn't have to worry about him being all strict with us, he is General Kenobi's Padawan, after all." He muttered, and the Corporal shot the other clone a dirty look before turning his attention back to Nitai.

"The boys call me Hound, this joker over here is Burst." He said, and the clone in question gave a lazy salute. He had a typical buzzcut, but he had a long, horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose. "That's Fidget." Hound continued, pointing to another clone, this one was bald, unlike the rest of his squad mates, and appeared to be constantly disassembling and reassembling his blaster, even though Nitai could see no obvious flaw with the weapon, the clone seemed to never be fully satisfied with it. "And that's Hawk." He said, pointing to the final clone trooper, who nodded before he resumed polishing the scope of his sniper rifle. Hawk was also the first person that Nitai had seen who had both of his eyes replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, and yet he seemed to lack any obvious scarring that would have indicated any traumatic physical damage.

"…Took a flashbang to the face, no way to fix my old eyes so I got some shiny new ones, don't worry, work just as well, if not better than the originals." Hawk said with a grin before glancing over at Nitai, who's face darkened slightly with emabarssment as he realized that he had been staring. "Don't worry sir, you're not the first to ask, and you probably won't be the last."

Nitai spent most of the time idling chatting with the clones, learning about their various roles. Blast, as his name implied, was the demolitions and heavy weapons expert, Fidget was responsible for hacking and infiltration, while Hawk, predictably, was the team sniper. Apparently, their squad had been put together specifically to deal with missions that required a degree of stealth, and was meant to be highly flexible to meet the demands of whatever mission they were given.

Eventually Nitai's communicator beeped, and he held it up. "Master Windu, any report on the battle in space?" He asked, recognizing the frequency that was being used.

"We have destroyed or crippled the Separatist fleet, I'll be coming down to join you, are the troops prepared for the assault?" Master Windu's voice came through.

"Both teams seem ready and waiting, Master Windu." Nitai confirmed. "Understood, I'll be down shortly." Master Windu confirmed.

A few moments later the doors to the hangar hissed open and Ahsoka walked out alongside Master Windu. "So, Soka, I'll see you planetside when this is done. Hope you don't keep me waiting too long." He said jokingly as she walked by, heading towards Master Plo and his team of clones.

"You won't need to worry about that, Red. I'll even give you a bit of a head start, it would only make it fair." She retorted with a grin.

Any further joking between the two was cut off by Master Windu. "Padawan, Commander. I see no reason to keep the droids waiting, let's head out." He said, Nitai and Commander Cody nodded as they got into the dropships. The other clones put on their helmets and quickly followed, with Master Windu being the last to step into the gunship. Once Ahsoka, Master Plo, and their team had gotten into the other dropship the doors began to close. Nitai gave Ahsoka a quick wave, which she returned before his vision was cut off.

"I thought these things weren't fit for space travel." Fidget said as the blast shields closed, leaving the dropship lit only be a dull, red light.

"New model, these can withstand a vacuum. Makes landings a lot easier since the cruisers don't have to enter the atmosphere, also makes it easy to land boarding parties on Separatist ships." Hound responded.

Nitai felt a familiar lurching feeling as the gunship took off and launched itself out of the hangar and into space. It was a bit nerve-wracking for him to be unable to even see what was going on outside of the ship, but he calmed himself by remembering that the Separatist ships had all been destroyed, and that there was no way that the Separatist ground forces would be able to detect them, although a small part in the back of his mind stubbornly insisted on questioning if the knowledge of the Separatist's scanners was accurate, with only a single gunship, they'd be shot down almost immediately if they were detected.

The ride through space was rather smooth, as was expected of a vacuum, but as they entered the atmosphere he felt the dropships start to shudder slightly as it began to face atmospheric resistance and was buffeted by the harsh winds of Iridonia. But thankfully, their flight was not suddenly interrupted by the burst of anti-aircraft cannons, and while the winds were fierce, it was nothing that the pilot couldn't handle.

"We're approaching the landing zone, arriving in approximately a minute." The pilot's voice rang out over the speakers.

"Prepare yourselves, the wind is going to be harsh." Master Windu warned. "Here, sir, you'll probably want some of these." Hound said as he handed Nitai a set of goggles, which the young Padawan gladly accepted, with Master Windu pulling out his own pair and pulling them on. When they felt the shuttle finally touch down and the doors slid open, they were blasted by a fierce gust of wind. Nitai could feel his robes get blown back as he instinctively put his hands up to shield his eyes from the flying specks of dirt and sand. He, Master Windu, and the clones quickly got out of the gunship, with Blast grabbing and shouldering a backpack as he did so.

"Follow me, I can see some rocks up ahead that will provide shelter from the wind." Master Windu shouted over the howling wind as he gestured towards a cluster of rocks. Nitai and the clones fell in behind him, and slumped down behind the stones once they got close enough. Even though the wind was still blowing fiercely, the relative quiet that came from being shielded from it was almost deafening.

"Alright, here's the plan." Master Windu said as he brought up an imagecaster to display the layout of the valley. Just as Master Plo had claimed, Northern edge of the valley seemed much more developed, while the South was more forested. The surface around the valley was completely bare, aside from four large domes, one on each side of the valley on the Northern and Southern sides. "These are the shield generators, and the gun emplacements are located within them. Our objectives are to plant demolition charges on the ammunition stockpiles, the shield generator, and the guns themselves." He explained, and Burst gave an affirmative nod, hefting the backpack full of charges that he was carrying. "We'll be setting off the charges simultaneously so that we can maximize the damage and ensure the destruction of the emplacements. Then, our cruisers will be able to approach and bombard what remains, along with clearing out some space in the Southern edge of the valley for a staging ground. We won't need the entire team to take out the shield generator, so Cody and I will be busy taking that out. Padawan Zeama, I want you to go with Corporal Hound's squad to set charges on the guns and ammunition, we'll join you once we've planted our charges and then rappel down to ledges on the side of the valley. Once the clones have established the staging ground we'll join and plan the rest of the assault from there."

The clones nodded, but Nitai had some reservations. "Are you certain about this, Master? I've never commanded any men before." He said hesitantly.

"Why do you think I requested that I be assigned to replace Master Kenobi while he was busy with his mission?" This revelation was certainly news to Nitai, but Master Windu continued. "Being a Jedi is about more than just skills with a lightsaber, I wanted to see how you work when you have men under your command, who depend on your leadership. Corporal Hound is a good squad leader, so I'm certain he'll pick up any slack, but I hope that with what you've picked up from Master Kenobi, that won't be needed."

"I won't let you down, Master." Nitai said, his trepidation replaced with determination, if Master Windu wanted to test his mettle, then he would give it his all. "I won't let you or your men down either, Corporal." Nitai said with a confident smile as he turned his attention towards Hound. "I'm certain you won't, Commander." Hound responded.

"Now, let's get moving. The sooner we take those emplacements out, the sooner we can land our troops and start retaking the valley." Master Windu said, Nitai and the clones nodded before they made their way out into the fierce winds once again.

Their trek through the arid wastes over the surface of Iridonia took nearly an hour, and Nitai was very grateful that he had his goggles on the entire time, otherwise he would have been completely blinded. Unlike Tatooine, the surface of Iridonia was rocky and arid, rather than covered with sand, although it was still basically a desert by any definition. Eventually, a shimmering blue dome appeared in the distance and they all dropped to went prone before pulling out their macrobinoculars and peering through it. It seemed that the droids were confident that they wouldn't be facing any assaults from along the surface, and so they had no real outward defenses, instead they had placed almost all of their canons in deep pits so that they could be aimed towards the sky while still keeping a low profile, the pits seemed to be connected by a series of trenches, that all seemed to be radiating out from one large, central pit, which was also where the shield seemed to be projected from.

"Seems like most of their cannons are in the outer ring of trenches and dugouts." Hawk said, choosing to peer through the scope of his rifle rather than his binoculars. "High probability that ammunition is stored in the middle ring. The central dugout is probably reserved for the command center and shield generator." Fidget chimed in.

"Then we know where to go. You all know your jobs, try not to raise too much of a ruckus, if they realize that they're under attack, then this mission is going to get a lot harder." Master Windu said before he, Nitai, and the rest of the clones rose to a crouch and began to make their way towards the shield. Luckily the droids hadn't laid out proximity sensors, not anticipating an attack from the surface, and they managed to pass through the shield without any trouble.

"Split up and do your job, make sure to contact us if something goes wrong." Master Windu said, Nitai and Mynock team nodded as Master Windu and Commander Cody made their way along the surface, leaping over some of the trenches after checking to make sure they were empty. Nitai and his team crept towards the nearest large, circular dugout and he peered in. The dugout was approximately ten feet deep and thirty feet around, and was occupied by a pair of large J-1 proton canons. The walls of the dugout were lined with racks holding the ammunition for the cannons, and eight B1 battle droids were idling about.

"Hawk, Blast, I want you two to stay up here and provide fire support, Fidget, Hound, you come with me. Those shells look tough, but let's try not to test and see how tough they are, so watch your aim." Nitai said, the clones nodded in response and Hawk and Blast took up positions, laying prone to minimize their profile. "On go, 3, 2, 1, go." At his word the two clones let loose, Hawk's single shot nailing a droid right in its head, while Blast unleashed a flurry of fire that impacted against another droid's torso. Nitai, Hound, and Fidget leapt down into the dugout, Nitai igniting his lightsaber once he'd landed and slicing through a droid that was within arm's reach, while Fidget and Hound began to release controlled bursts from their rifles.

"Clones!" One of the droids yelped in surprise before being silenced by another volley of fire from Blast. "Someone sound the alarm!" Another one hollered before being sliced vertically in half by Nitai's saber. One of the droids ran towards a metal box embedded within the wall of the dugout, probably part of the alarm system, but it suddenly fell to the ground, its knees being taken out by a pair of accurate shots from Hawk, before it was put out of commission by a follow up shot to the head. The remaining droids were quickly dispatched by a quick burst of fire from Fidget and Hound. They all paused for a few moments, taking in the silence after the quick firefight before Nitai motioned for Hawk and Blast to join them in the dugout. "Alright, I want charges on those ammo racks and on the underside of these guns. I saw about three more emplacements while we were scouting this place out, once we're done with those we'll move inward and start setting charges in the ammo supply dugouts." The clones nodded before setting about their work, placing charges in discrete locations. While they were busy doing that, Nitai used the force to lift the droid remains and set them down on the surface, that way no patrols would immediately realize that they were being infiltrated if they came to check out this position, since all the evidence of the battle would be up on the surface, where they were less likely to look.

Once all of the charges had been set they regrouped in the middle of the dugout. "Alright, we'll make our way clockwise and set charges in the remaining emplacements, then we'll work inward and take out the ammo dumps. Hopefully Master Windu will have planted the charges on the shield generator by that point. I'll take point, Hound, you're behind me, then Blast, Fidget, Hawk, you'll take up the rear."

"Understood, Commander." Hound said, the rest of the clones nodding before they fell in behind him as they made their way through the trenches. The pattern mostly repeated itself with the remaining emplacements, it seemed that the droids hadn't seen it necessary to post any guards other than B1 droids, meaning that it was relatively easy to dispatch them and then plant charges while Nitai disposed of their remains.

"Padawan Zeama, come in." Nitai's communicator hissed and he held it up to his mouth. "Reporting in, Master Windu we've just planted our charges in the last of the gun emplacements, we'll be moving in to the Northern ammo storage, next." He reported.

"Good, Commander Cody and I have managed to plant our charges on the shield generator, and decided to provide some assistance with your part of the mission, we've already planted charges in the Southern ammo dump, plant the rest of your explosives and meet us at the Western emplacement, near the rim of the valley, we'll rappel down and set off the charges there."

"Roger that." Nitai said. He and the clones then made their way into the Northern ammo dump, a long, rectangular dugout that was lined with ammunition for the proton cannons. It was only guarded by a pair of B1 droids, who quickly were cut down by a pair of shots from Hound and Hawk.

However, as they were busy setting the charges Nitai's ears perked up, having picked up an unfamiliar sound. It almost sounded like something was…rolling? "Droidekas!" He shouted to the clones in alarm as a trio of the circular droids rolled into the supply dump and promptly unfolded, blue, spherical shields springing to life around them and absorbing or deflecting the hail of desperate laser fire that the clones unleashed. As they did, a siren began to blare and Nitai cursed as he began to deflect their shots, trying to deflect them towards the walls above the ammunition racks to avoid setting any of the shells off. "Padawan, what's going on?" He heard Master Windu's voice crackle through his communicator. "Three droidekas found us, must be a patrol linked directly to the security system." He explained. "Are your charges set?" Master Windu asked tensely. "Most of them." Nitai said as he used the force to push one of the droids back, sending it careening into the rock wall of the dugout, deactivating its shields and causing it to collapse as several laser shots impacted against its head, or at least what he figured to be its head.

"That'll have to be enough, get to the Western emplacement now, we'll meet you there." Master Windu's transmission then cut off.

"We've got to get out of here now!" Nitai shouted as he deflected another set of blaster fire. "A bit hard to do that with them blocking the way, sir!" Blast responded as another volley from his rifle impacted fruitlessly against one of the droideka's shields. They were all currently taking cover behind an empty rack that provided some degree of protection against the droideka's fire, and as Nitai watched the droidekas start to try to strafe to the side to attempt to flank them he watched them pass near a loaded ammunition rack. "Hold your fire!" He shouted, and the clones took a few seconds to oblige, seeming to believe that their commander didn't want to risk them hitting one of the shells in the rack behind the droidekas. The droidekas similarly seemed confused by the sudden lack of fire, but that confusion was very short lived. Nitai reached out and then suddenly pulled his hand back, using the Force to pull the ammunition rack forward and causing the massive shells to collapse on top of the droidekas. Their shields may have been able to shrug off any number of small arms fire, but they couldn't hope to withstand the weight of multiple massive proton cannon shells falling on them at once.

"Let's go!" He shouted as he and the clones began running through the trenches. As they turned to enter the trench that would take them towards the Western emplacement they suddenly found their path blocked, this time by a group of half a dozen B2 battle droids, led by a B1 which sported the yellow stripes of a commander. "Halt!" The B1 said as it raised its hand, however neither Nitai, nor the clones slowed down, and the commander soon found itself bisected at the waist, along with the B2 droid standing immediately behind it. Normally the droids might have had an advantage due to their tough armor, however in the confined space of the trench, the clones and Nitai had the advantage, since the droids weren't particularly capable hand to hand combatants. One droid attempted to level its wrist blaster at Hound, who just knocked it back by slamming it with the butt of his rifle before firing directly into its face, disabling it. Two droids quickly found themselves cut in half diagonally by Nitai, while the remaining two were slammed into the walls of the trench by Blast and Fidget, allowing Hawk to aim at both of them and dispatch them with quick, accurate shots to the head.

When they finally reached the Western embankment, they found Master Windu and Commander Cody already there, finishing off a small group of B1 droids. "It won't be long before the next group comes. Nitai, jump up to the surface and lead the clones to the edge, you can rappel down from there." As he spoke the clanking of metallic feet could be heard, a lot of droids.

"No." Nitai said, causing Windu to look at him with a look that was halfway between anger and confusion. "Master, you take the clones, I'll stay here and hold them off, I'll be right behind you." He said, and while Master Windu seemed like he was going to argue, he saw the fire in the young Padawans eyes, and he knew that he had no intention of dying today. "Alright, but make sure you follow quickly." He said as he and the leapt up to the surface, the clones attaching their ascension cables and beginning to scale the wall. Several B1 and B2 series entered the emplacement, led by another commander droid.

"Focus fire on the Jedi!" The droid said, pointing towards Nitai, and the droids began to fire at him. He quickly lost count of how many shots he deflected or avoided, weaving in and out behind the proton cannons just long enough for a brief reprieve, before darting out again to keep their attention.

"Sir, we're on the surface and heading for the rim of the valley now." Hounds voice came through on his communicator. "I'll be right behind you." Nitai said as he darted back behind one of the cannons. He could hear the droids start to approach between the two cannons, soon they'd be right on top of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning his lightsaber off. They'd shoot him if he tried to jump up to the surface, and he wouldn't be able to deflect their shots, which left him one option. He closed his eyes and turned his focus inwards, focusing upon his negative emotions, the droids would kill him, they would kill everyone he loved, a Sith Lord would dominate the galaxy and find his people and crush them before they ever had a chance of earning their redemption. His thoughts weren't entirely logical, but they didn't need to be, all they needed was to fuel his rage, he stepped out between the cannons, and before the droids could even aim at him, his eyes snapped open and he raised his hands, arcing bolts of lightning flew from his fingertips hopping from droid to droid and causing them to spasm as the lightning coursed through them, overloading and bursting circuits.

He had never felt such power, it was as if every nerve in his body was on fire, he didn't want to stop. He tried to fight the urge to continue, to revel in the power that he was wielding, but it was a tough fight. He could feel the seductive nature of the Dark Side pull at him, urging him to go further, why should he stop? He could be great, more powerful than any Jedi, he could lead his people to greatness, retake their rightful place in the galaxy…and that thought, which likely was supposed to further seduce him, was actually what broke him out of his trance, as the revulsion he felt for the actions of his ancestors, a revulsion that was in many ways a vital part of the fabric of Sith culture, kicked in. No, he would not, _could_ not, allow himself to go down that same path.

He dropped his hands and ended his electrical onslaught, but it was too late, a final, stray arc of lightning jumped from one of the droids and impacted against one of the dormant shells, which began to glow. His eyes widened and he leapt up to the surface, slipping his lightsaber back into its holster on his hip, however as he ran towards the rim of the valley he felt his legs begin to weaken until eventually it felt as if the bones within them had completely disappeared. He had been warned about this before, there was always a toll for using a power so strongly associated with the Dark Side when he was not fully immersed in it, using the Force lightning had drained his energy even more than it would have for a true practitioner, since he was using a technique that was not compatible with his alignment. But he had not anticipated that the reaction would be so severe, the edges of his vision began to blur as he approached the edge. He heard an explosion behind him, but even that seemed muffled, as the explosion in the Western emplacement triggered every other charge that they had placed, he saw the shield begin to dissipate. And then the shockwave hit him.

Falling. He was falling towards a ledge about a quarter of the way down the cliff, the wind whipping through his hair and roaring in his ears. His vision began to darken, he tried to lift his hands towards it but his muscles refused to move, too fatigued by the usage of Force lightning. As his vision began to fade he saw small, sandy colored figures on the ledge, and one brown figure clad in Jedi robes. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Master Windu stretching both of his arms out towards him, and the last thing he felt was his descent rapidly beginning to slow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Well here we are once again, dear readers, with yet another new chapter. I hope to conclude this little arc with the next chapter, and only hope that you've been enjoying it (and the story as a whole).**

 **Feel free to leave a review if you'd like to give feedback, just remember the rule, keep things civil and polite. After all, what does rude, angry criticism really accomplish? No writer has ever received a poorly spelled, profanity laden review and then said 'hmm, that person made some good points'.**

 **Today's recommendation is a book series called Discworld, by the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett. It is probably one of the finest book series I've ever read, and Sir Terry is, without a doubt, my favorite author of all time. The first two books in the series are a bit rough, but I fully recommend reading the entire series (although with 41 books in the series, it can be a rather sizable commitment, although the individual books aren't really mammoth in size). But anyway, on with the show!**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 10 (V. 1)**

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 **He will win who knows when to fight, and when not to fight.**

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 **Iridonia, under siege!**

 **With supply lines between the Inner and Outer Rims becoming more and more important as the war rages on, the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia in the Mid Rim has come under Separatist occupation. A Republic taskforce consisting of the 212th** **attack battalion and 501st** **legion has been sent to liberate the planet.**

 **With the Separatist heavy cannon emplacements destroyed thanks to a daring raid led by Jedi Generals Plo Koon and Mace Windu, the Republic has been able to land troops in one of the largest valleys on the planet, in the hopes of retaking its landing facilities, and starving the Separatist forces on the planet of their much-needed reinforcements.**

* * *

Nitai groaned as his eyes slowly cracked open. His muscles felt even more sore than they had on the days that he had managed to annoy Master Chiida and had been rewarded with what the former Jedi had called, 'special training'. This training typically consisted of having to run through the forest with stones on his back, or some other grueling physical task.

As his eyes opened, he winced as he found himself staring into the bright, white lights of a hastily set up medical tent. As he tried to sit up, he felt a cold, mechanical set of fingers rest against his shoulder, gently keeping him down on what he now realized was a portable medical cot. He turned and found himself staring into the eyes, or perhaps lights would be the better term, of a medical droid.

"What happened?" He croaked, his throat feeling incredibly dry.

"You were brought in by General Windu, you had a few minor bruises but were suffering from severe fatigue. You have been unconscious for approximately twelve standard hours." The droid explained in its monotonous, but soothing tone.

"You should consider yourself lucky, and be very thankful to Master Windu, Red." A familiar voice said, as Ahsoka walked in, soon followed by Plo Koon and Master Windu. She had a relieved smile on her face as the trio of Jedi walked over to stand by the side of his cot.

"Indeed, you were quite fortunate that he was so quick in acting." Master Plo agreed. "Although your bravery in staying behind to protect your comrades was commendable, if reckless." However, before Nitai could respond, S1 came barreling into the tent, passed the rows of empty cots, and pushing aside Ahsoka and Master Plo. He immediately let out a series of enraged beeps while waving his mechanical arms around wildly.

"Hey, no need for the language, S1. I had a plan, kind of." Nitai tried to argue, only to receive yet another flurry of whistles from the concerned droid. "But how did the plan go? I'm guessing that it succeeded?" He said as his gaze flickered between the three Jedi.

"It did, Master Plo's team managed to take their emplacement out shortly after ours, and we managed to land a majority of our force. The droids have been making attempts to attack our staging ground, but the forest is particularly thick in this region, and so they can't get their tanks through, so we've been able to repulse them fairly easily. Although that same forest means that our tanks can't advance either, so we've been making plans for an offensive, we hope that if we can push the droids back from the other edge of the forest, we'll be able to land more of our tanks and walkers, and begin the major offensive." Master Windu spoke up before turning to the medical droid. "How long do you think it will take for him to recover?"

"He will likely experience soreness for the next few hours, although he should be capable of walking. But I would recommend that he not take part in any combat until tomorrow, to allow his body more time to recover." The droid said, and while Nitai was initially inclined to argue, the dizziness he felt when he finally managed to sit up managed to persuade him otherwise.

"Careful there, Red. Wouldn't want you to go hurting yourself so soon after you finally managed to wake up." Ahsoka said, walking over to stand by him as he swung his legs over the side of the cot. He kept his hands firmly on the cot as he pushed himself to his feet, making sure that his feet were firmly planted before turning and taking a few tentative steps.

"Don't worry, Soka. I can't really feel my legs, but that's probably for the better." He said with a slight grin.

"Padawan Tano, why don't you escort Padawan Zeama to the command tent? Master Plo and I need to go make a report to the council. We'll join you shortly and discuss our plans for the rest of the offensive." Master Windu suggested, and Ahsoka nodded, sticking close by Nitai's side just in case he looked like his legs might give out.

"We'll see you there, Masters." Ahsoka said as the two senior Jedi walked out of the tent, before then turning and lightly punching Nitai's arm, not enough to really hurt, but enough that he could definitely feel it.

"What exactly were you thinking, Red? That stunt could have gotten you killed. S1 and I were really worried when we saw you being carried here." She scolded, placing her hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

"I knew I could handle it, Soka. Admittedly, falling unconscious and being blasted off of the side of a cliff wasn't really part of the plan, but everything worked out." He said, trying to play off the fact that, for a few moments as he was falling, he had been absolutely convinced that he had been about to die.

Ahsoka only rolled her eyes in response as the two of them headed towards the entrance to the tent. "I get enough crazy plans when I'm with Master Skywalker. So, try to keep those to a minimum." She said as they both stepped out of the tent.

Unlike the arid, sandy surface of the planet, the valley that they were in was densely forested, to the point that he couldn't even see far past the tree line, they were so tightly packed that he wasn't surprised that the droids hadn't been able to get their tanks through. Their staging area was placed in a large, roughly circular clearing that roughly a kilometer in diameter. Most of the clearing was taken up by a massive, Acclamator class assault ship, that even now was unloading a contingent of clones and supplies, with the rest of the available space taken up by defensive emplacements, and various tents that had been set up, with each tent having a symbol on its roof and sides denoting its purpose.

As they began to make their way through the rows of tents, followed closely by S1, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Sooo…Master Plo finished his mission after we did, did he?" He asked teasingly.

"Ugh, is now really the time for that, Red?" She asked, but when she saw the unwavering grin on his face she just rolled her eyes and reached into a pouch on her hip, pulling out a few credits before handing them to him.

"That's only thirty." He said as he counted them and slipped them into a bag on his belt. "I docked you twenty, can't really say it's a complete success if you alert the whole base and have to be carried away from it." She retorted.

"I guess you've got me on that front." He said with a shrug as they stepped into the command tent, several holographic screens had been set up, as well as a holotable that dominated the center of the tent, displaying a layout of the valley. "So, can you give me a quick rundown of the situation?"

"Sure. Most of the Separatist defenses are clustered in the Northern portion of the valley. They have a defensive line just outside of the forest. The cannons at that line can't target us so they've targeted the plains just outside of the tree line, if we send anybody in beyond that point, they'll be blown to pieces." She explained, pointing to a series of trenches with large, red dots on them, presumably the locations of the artillery.

"Indeed, and we can't rely on the Separatists coming to us, the longer we wait, the greater chance the Separatists fleet has of returning with reinforcements. While I trust our fleet to take them out the first time, we can't guarantee that their response fleet won't be capable of forcing our ships out of orbit." Master Windu said as he and Master Plo entered the tent, apparently having heard Ahsoka's assessment.

"Unfortunately, the Separatist defenses have been bolstered hundreds of extra battle droids. Their numbers, combined with their artillery support, would make any direct attack on their lines incredibly costly." Master Plo added.

"What if we could draw out the droids from their line and into the forest? We'd have a much greater advantage amongst the trees." Nitai suggested as he raised his left hand to his right cheek and began to stroke it contemplatively.

"We've thought about that, but by the time we would have to fight our way through the droids in the forest just to get back beyond the tree line. By the time we finished breaking through the droid assault, they would have had time to reinforce their defenses from their bases in the Northern portion of the valley." Master Windu said, however, just as he said it, the gears began to turn in Nitai's mind, and a devious smile spread across his face.

"But…what if we didn't have to fight them? Ooh yes, I think I've got an idea." He said as he leaned over the table and began to explain his plan.

* * *

"I thought I told you to cool it with the crazy plans." Ahsoka said to Nitai as they crept through the forest alongside Master Windu, Master Plo, and several squads of clone troopers.

"It's not that crazy, just risky." He said with a grin. After explaining his plan, the Masters had agreed, and he had then been shown to his tent so that he could get some more rest. After all, there was no way that he was going to be left out of this.

"No, risky involves doing something that might involve getting shot at. This plan hinges on the fact that we'll be shot at." She retorted as they neared the tree line, before they all paused.

"Hold position." Master Windu said as he tapped the communicator on his wrist. "This is General Windu, our group is in position, sound off." "Commander Cody, in position." "Captain Rex, in position." Two voices chimed in, one after the other, shortly afterwards several other clone commanders had reached their positions. "Alright, remember the plan, only engage for a brief period of time, as soon as they open up with their cannons, I want you to fall back. You all know your duties, General Windu out." He said before nodding to one of the clones. He raised a flare gun into the air before firing, sending a bright red, hissing bolt streaking into the sky.

With the signal for the attack sent, Nitai joined the three other Jedi as they charged out from the trees, quickly followed by the squads of clones.

It was like a veritable line of white-clad troopers emerged from the forest on cue, charging towards the Separatist defenses, which mainly consisted of a series of trenches and foxholes to allow the droids to take cover, since many of them lacked the mobility to crouch. A hail of blaster fire immediately shot towards them, and Nitai ignited his lightsaber and began to deflect the shots as the clone charge inevitably slowed. As the clones began to take cover, several of the Separatist heavy cannons took aim and fired, the sound ringing across the battlefield. Thankfully most of the clones were already scattering at the sound, although a few were unfortunately killed as the heavy plasma bolts impacted against the ground or the rocks that they had been using for cover, leaving large, smoking craters in the otherwise rather idyllic looking grassland.

"Fall back, fall back!" Several of the clone commanders' voices came through over the communicators, sticking to the plan as they began to head back to the safety of the tree line.

"Let's hope this works." Nitai said as he began to retreat to the tree line along with Ahsoka and the Masters. They continued to run through the trees alongside the clones, before stopping once they were certain that they were out of sight of any droid observers.

"Men, prepare your ascension cables." Master Plo ordered as he, Master Windu, Nitai, and Ahsoka leapt up into the thick canopy. The trees on Iridonia seemed to grow particularly thick, and some of their branches were sturdy enough to support at least two people. Nitai crouched on one of the branches alongside Ahsoka, while the two Jedi Masters perched on a branch slightly ahead of them. They were soon joined by approximately half of their squadron of clones, who used their ascension cables to climb up the tree, while the remaining half continued to fall back towards the staging ground.

"What if they don't take the bait?" Ahsoka said softly as they watched the ground, straining to hear any sound of approaching droid footsteps.

"Trust me, they will. That force consisted of pretty much all of our troops, far too tempting a target for any commander to pass up. They'll send in as many troops as they can in the hopes of catching the clones before they get back to our defenses, since they'll think that a much larger force is trying to escape, by the time those droids hit our defenses, the clones will have gotten back and had plenty of time to prepare for them." He said with a grin.

Any further conversation was soon silenced by a distant clanking sound, the sound of hundreds of droids marching in unison. Nitai did his best to try and make as little noise as possible, remaining completely motionless alongside Ahsoka, although his attempts to remain quiet only made him all the more aware of even the slightest noises, the rustling of the branch they were crouched on as an errant breeze blew by, the beating of his own heart in his chest, and the sound of his breathing. Soon, however, all of those sounds were blotted out by the metallic clanking that was growing ever closer.

Just as Master Windu had said, the droids hadn't even bothered to try and bring their tanks through the thick forest. Instead, rows upon rows of battle droids filtered in, doing their best to maintain formation as they flowed around the bases of the trees. They mostly consisted of B1 battle droids, but he could see a sizable amount of B2s as well. They flowed beneath the hidden Republic forces like a metallic tide, completely silent aside from the sound of their metal feet, which by this point resembled the rumbling of an avalanche.

Then, just as quickly as they had arrived, they vanished into the distance once again, their metallic footsteps soon being muffled by the forest. The four Jedi glanced between one another, letting the silence hang as the army of droids grew further and further, once it had completely faded, they nodded, and leapt down to the forest floor, soon joined by their clone troopers.

"This is General Windu, report in." Master Windu whispered into his communicator, soon receiving a bevy of responses from the various clone commanders. "It seems your plan worked, Padawan, but we still have to take those defenses." He said before tapping one of the buttons on his communicator, sending the signal for the second attack.

Just like before, they charged out of the trees, although this time without the pre-emptive flare, and moving as silently as possible. They managed to make it almost halfway to the defensive line before being spotted, the droids probably having slacked off on their scanning of the trees for enemies after sending in their assault force. Once again, they were met with volleys of blaster fire, although significantly diminished now, due to the decreased number of droids manning the line.

The cannons once again opened fire, although their response was much less rapid than before. The clones were not as bunched up as they had been during the initial attack, and their advance was much faster, making it difficult for the droid gunners to accurately get a bead on any particular target.

"Nitai, you're with me, we're going to go silence those guns. Master Plo, you and Ahsoka go and take out their command structure." Master Windu ordered, he and Nitai quickly splitting off to head towards a small hill, where a trio of cannons was firing away at the clones. A few B1 droids were joining in, however what was more concerning were the two hovertanks on either side of the emplacement.

"Those might pose a problem." Master Windu said as one of the tanks fired its smaller guns towards them, forcing them to deflect the shots and slow down their advance up the hill, although thankfully that meant that the tank wasn't focusing all of its fire on the clones who were advancing behind them.

"A problem, but also an opportunity." Nitai said as they began to circle around the side of the hill, so that they were now approaching the emplacement from the side, so that they would only have to concern themselves with fire from one tank and the handful of B1 droids that were supporting it. "This hill has a rather good view of most of the other cannon emplacements, do you know how to fire one of those tank guns?"

"I do. Could you take out the other tank while I deal with the emplacements?" Master Windu asked as they both dived away from one another to avoid a shot from the tank's main cannon.

"Got it." Nitai nodded, the two Jedi began to sprint up the hill, each one slicing through a defending B1 droid. Master Windu leapt up to the top of the tank and quickly used his lightsaber to cut a hole in the main hatch, before using the Force to pull the tank's occupants out and leaping down into the cockpit.

"One of the Jedi has taken control of a tank!" One of the droids screamed, before being bisected by Nitai. He then leapt over the trio of cannons and onto the top of the other tank. With a quick slice, he cut through the tank's cannon, sending it rolling down the hill. He could see a few squads of clones take advantage of the situation and break from their cover, charging up the hill while most of the droids were busy focusing on Nitai.

"Hey boys, any one of you got a grenade you could lend me?" He shouted to the approaching clones, although his eyes remained fixed on the droids firing at him as he continued to deflect their shots, managing to take out three of them by reflecting their blaster bolts right into their torsos.

"On its way, commander! Catch!" One of the clones shouted as he lobbed a thermal detonator towards Nitai, who caught it in his free hand before slicing open the top hatch of the tank.

"What's going on here?" Came the voice of the droid tank commander who looked up in surprise, or at least what Nitai thought was surprise, a bit hard to tell with droids.

"I've got a present for you." Nitai said as he primed the detonator and dropped it right into the droids lap before hopping off of the tank. Most of the clones had arrived at the crest of the hill and were now returning fire, forcing the droids to try and take cover as best they could. Nitai deactivated his lightsaber and pushed both his arms out, using the Force to send the tank skidding down the hill. Once it was about halfway down, the detonator went off, sending a plume of smoke and fire into the air and launching debris all around.

He could hear the sounds of blaster fire start to die down, as the last of the droids defending the hilltop were destroyed. With no more droids to be concerned with the tank that Master Windu had captured turned, and began to fire down at some of the exposed cannon positions, igniting their shells and destroying them one by one. Gradually, the sound of cannon fire faded away, until eventually Master Windu pulled himself out of the tank, and used the Force to push it up against the three remaining cannons. With a few shots from one of the clone trooper's rifles, the shells that were being stored next to the cannons were set off, obliterating the tank and cannons.

As Nitai walked over to Master Windu the two of them received calls on their communicators.

"This is Ahsoka, Master Plo and I have taken out the Separatist command post." This report was quickly followed by yet another, this time coming from the staging ground. "Generals, this is the staging ground defense force, we've just cleared up the droid attackers, relatively minimal casualties."

"This is General Windu, we've taken the defensive line, you may begin deploying your tanks to the grassland beyond the forest. Windu out." He said before turning to Nitai. Neither of them spoke for several moments before one corner of Master Windu's mouth tilted up slightly, it wasn't much, but coming from the normally stoic Jedi, it spoke volumes. "Well, Padawan Zeama, it seems your plan worked. Master Kenobi is quite lucky to have you as his Padawan." He said, and Nitai's chest swelled with pride at the praise, as he turned towards the forest and watched as several vehicle transports approached, tanks and walkers carried in their magnetic clamps. For the first time since they'd met, Nitai didn't feel uncomfortable in the senior Jedi's presence.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey there everybody! Sorry it's been a bit since I last updated, the last month has been rather hectic due to my classes, so I might not be able to update as frequently, we'll see. But anyway, today's** **recommendation is a romance manga/anime called Kimi ni Todoke.**

 **Walking a Tightrope Chapter 11 (V. 1.0)**

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 **The quality of decision is like the well-time swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.**

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 **Battle for Iridonia!**

 **Thanks to a daring strategy devised by Jedi Padawan, Nitai Zeama, the Republic troops fighting to liberate the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia have been able to force back the Separatist defensive lines. With momentum on their side, the Republic forces have been able to push the droid army back, forcing them to make their stand in the city of Danai, in the northern region of the valley which the Republic forces seek to reclaim.**

 **If the Republic troops hope to take control of the planet, then they must capture the landing pads of Danai intact. But as the Republic troops push deeper into the urban portion of Danai, the Separatist forces have revealed a devastating surprise, that they have attached explosives to the landing pads. The Republic advance has slowed to a crawl as the Jedi generals Plo Koon and Mace Windu consider their next move.**

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The advance through the plains outside of the city of Danai went relatively smoothly, with the republic walkers and tanks now supporting the clone forces, the Separatist army had continually been pushed back. Without reinforcements to replenish their forces, and thus robbed of their typical advantage in numbers, the battle droids had been slowly whittled down by the superior training of the clone troopers.

At the moment Nitai, Ahsoka, Plo Koon, and Mace Windu were standing on the ground floor of a relatively intact skyscraper, with a holotable displaying a map of the city, and red dots highlighting the locations of the various landing pads and spaceports located around the city.

"So, what you're saying is that we're stuck here?" Nitai said with a frown as he glanced towards several holographic craters that hadn't been present only a few days before, the locations of several former landing pads and a minor spaceport.

"For the time being, yes. We must assume that the Separatist forces have sabotaged the remaining spaceports and landing structures. They'll likely continue to detonate them as we advance, and if we lose those ports, it will make deploying troops across the rest of the planet that much harder." Mace said with a similar look of frustration.

"And it seems that they've learned from your tactic in the forest, they've demolished all the buildings surrounding the major spaceports, so there would be no way to sneak through them buildings or attack them from above." Master Plo added, causing Nitai to bang a fist on the edge of the holotable.

"Master, with every moment we wait, countless people are put in danger, are you certain there's nothing else that we can do?" Ahsoka asked, but Plo Koon only sighed and shook his head slightly.

"I'm sorry, little Soka, but I'm afraid for now there's nothing else that we can do until we think up a strategy." The two Padawans seemed disheartened at Plo's words, and turned to leave.

"Damnit." Nitai growled as the stepped out onto the rubble-strewn streets. "I'd be fine if we were waiting to come up with a plan on our own terms. But this just makes me feel powerless."

"I know how you feel, Red." Ahsoka sighed as they began to walk down the street towards a barricade that had been set up, several walkers were lined up behind the barricade, their guns pointed down the street, barely visible in the distance was another barricade, this one set up by the Separatists. A no man's land stretched between the two, the street filled with rubble from collapsed buildings and the smoldering remains of a few droid tanks that had attempted to make a push the previous day. "Let's just hope that we can think something up quick."

Any further discussion was interrupted by one of the clones on the barricade shouting down to them. "Hey! Commander Zeama, good to see you!" The two young Padawans and looked up to see a clone waving at them, Nitai's eyes widened as he saw the distinctive scar running across the clone trooper's nose.

"Blast! Glad to see you made it through all right. Come on Ahsoka, let me introduce you to the clones who helped me take out that gun emplacement." He said before clambering up onto the barricade, taking up a position on the small walkway that had been made to allow the clones to patrol near the top of the barricade without exposing themselves to fire. Ahsoka quickly joined him and crouched down.

"Boys, this is commander Tano, she's General Skywalker's Padawan. Soka, this is Blast, Hawk, Fidget, and Corporal Hound." He said gesturing to each of the clones in turn. Most of the clones were just sitting against the wall, except for Hawk, who was poking his rifle out through a small sniper's post. "Sorry I didn't check in on you guys after I got better, things were a bit hectic."

"No problem, sir, besides I hear it's you we've got to thank for the plan that finally got us out of that forest." Fidget said with a small smile. "Who knows how long we'd have been stuck in there, otherwise?"

"It's the least I could do." Nitai said with a smile before glancing over at Hawk. "Hey Hawk, what're you doing?" He asked.

"Making life a lot shorter for any droid who wants to try and poke their head above their barricade." He responded his eye still pressed up to his scope. He exhaled briefly and squeezed the trigger, after a second passed he grinned and settled down behind the wall with the other clones. "You want to try it out, commander?" He asked.

"Sure thing!" Nitai chirped, drawing somewhat surprised looks from Ahsoka and the rest of the clones, even Hawk looked briefly taken aback, as if he hadn't been expecting for Nitai to actually take him up on his offer. "It's been a while since I've last been able to handle a rifle."

"I didn't know Jedi used rifles." Blast said as Hawk handed his sniper rifle over to Nitai, who quickly took his place.

"Well I wasn't raised by the Jedi." Nitai said, and Ahsoka perked up a bit at this, she'd been told that Nitai hadn't been raised at the Temple, but she'd never gotten the opportunity to ask him about how he'd grown up. "I was raised by my parents for most of my life, and my dad liked to take me hunting when he could. He said that it makes food tastes better if you grow or kill it yourself." He said before grumbling a bit as he adjusted the rifle, it was a bit awkward to hold it since he was left handed, and it had clearly been designed with right handed people in mind.

"I've been wondering about that, why didn't you get sent to the Temple as soon as you were discovered?" Ahsoka asked as Nitai finally seemed to figure out a somewhat comfortable way to hold the rifle and settled into position.

"We've been cut off from the galaxy for a long time. I imagine that for a lot of people getting to join the Jedi would be an honor, but not so much for us, especially considering how tightly knit my family is." Nitai responded, a droid's head soon popped up from behind the barricade and he quickly lined up his shot, emptied his lungs, and then squeezed the trigger. A fraction of a second later, he saw the droid's head explode in a shower of sparks, and he grinned. "I think the only reason that they let me leave in the first place is that they knew I'd be leaving Uostas one way or another, so they might as well let me do so with their blessing."

"So, you mentioned hunting, what type of animal did you hunt?" Hawk asked before Ahsoka could press on with any further questions.

"Zeratsak, they're these furry creatures that live in the trees in some of the forests, they have these really long arms that resemble the vines that grow from the trees, and whenever something walks underneath them, they'll strangle them. Really nasty pieces of work." Nitai explained as he lined up another shot as he saw a second droid pop its head out from above the barricade, another exhale, another pause, and that droid's head also disappeared in a cascade of electrical discharge and broken metal. Nitai then crouched down behind the barricade and handed the rifle back to Hawk. "But they're not too bad if you can spot one before it grabs you. It's an interesting experience, most of the time you have to ambush something from above or behind, it's rare to get the opportunity to ambush something from below."

Ahsoka nodded slightly before a thought sprung to mind, and judging by the gradual widening of Nitai's eyes he was probably thinking the same thing. "Red, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked with a grin.

"That I do, Soka." He said before nodding to the clones. "See you guys later, we've got a plan to think up." He and Ahsoka then immediately leapt off of the barricade and hit the ground running, heading back to the command tent.

"You got any idea what that was about?" Blast asked, and the other clones only shrugged in response.

"Who knows? There's no figuring Jedi." Hound responded. "Now get back to your watch, we've still got an hour before we're rotated off."

Nearly everyone in the command tent jumped when Nitai and Ahsoka rushed in, both of them skidding to a halt just in front of the holotable and breathing heavily.

"Is something wrong?" Plo asked as he looked with concern, at the two Padawans.

"We have…an idea." Nitai said as he paused to catch his breath. "Soka, will you do the honors?"

"Of course. Master, the Separatists may have all of the approaches from around spaceports guarded, but a city this big probably has a pretty sizable undercity. If we can't attack from above or on the same plane, then maybe we can sneak up on them from below." Ahsoka explained.

"And if we can sneak a few teams over to the major spaceports, they can deactivate the bombs and push forward without fear of damaging them." Nitai continued. The two Jedi Masters looked intrigued by the idea, and Master Windu turned to one of the clone technicians that was working in the tent.

"See if you can bring up a map of the undercity, and highlight any areas that could allow us to sneak troops to the spaceports." He ordered, and the technician nodded before rapidly tapping on a datapad. The display of the city raised itself up, and a second hologram appeared beneath it, depicting numerous underground corridors, basements, and tunnels.

"Hmm, it appears that there's an access point to this old subway system near our current position, assuming the routes haven't been blocked then we might be able to get several teams to areas just beneath most of the key spaceports." Plo Koon said as he pointed to a particular series of tunnels that ran beneath a large portion of the city.

"But if we're going to disable those explosives, we'll need a distraction, something to keep the droid army occupied, and they'll get suspicious if they hear no reports of Jedi fighting on the front lines." Mace said before his gaze flickered to the two Padawans. "Padawan Tano, Padawan Zeama, I hope I can trust you with this mission. The two of you will be leading several fire teams to the point beneath the largest, and most vital spaceport, it will be your job to deactivate the explosives while Master Plo and I distract the droid army, several other squads will also be assigned to make their way to the other spaceports to secure them as well."

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka said as she and Nitai bowed to the two senior Jedi.

"And if I may be bold enough, Masters, I would like to suggest one particular team to come along with us for this mission." Nitai said with a slight grin.

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The preparations for the mission didn't take a great deal of time, it had been decided that they would make their way through the tunnels at dusk, so that they would be able to emerge from the underground under the cover of darkness, hopefully maximizing the element of surprise.

Nitai was currently waiting alongside Ahsoka next to the entrance they had identified, a large hole covered by a metallic grate, which led directly down into the access tunnels that had once been used to maintain the subway system. Two dozen clone troopers were standing nearby, their force was one of the largest that would be undertaking the operation, since their target was the largest spaceport. Their armor had been dirtied in order to make it less noticeable, and at the moment they were waiting for their signal. Corporal Hound and the rest of his fireteam were waiting alongside Nitai, who had specifically requested their services, knowing how well that they had performed during their previous mission together.

It didn't take long for their communicators to beep, and Nitai nodded to Blast, who took out a cutting beam, quickly slicing lines along the outside of the grate, several clone troopers grabbed onto the bars once they came loose, pulling them up so that the severed portion of the grate wouldn't fall down into the tunnel below.

"Alright, let's move out." Nitai said as he gradually lowered himself down onto the metallic rungs that were embedded into the wall of the access hatch to serve as a ladder. The old, rusty metal was cold and rough against his skin, and he was suddenly quite aware of just how long it must have been since one of these tunnels was last used. "Watch yourself on the way down, some of these rungs might not be all that sturdy." He called up, his voice echoing off of the metal walls.

Eventually he felt his foot hit something much sturdier than the rusted metal rungs, and after sliding it around to make sure that he wasn't mistaken he stepped away from the ladder and activated his lightsaber in order to give himself some light. The tunnel that he found himself in was very wide, and he was apparently standing on a walkway next to the area where the subway trains had once run, the walkway was about large enough for three people to walk side by side, although there were parts of it near the edges that had apparently crumbled away long ago. He was soon joined by Ahsoka, and then by Corporal Hound and his team, and then by the rest of the clones, the tunnel was suddenly much brighter as the clones activated the flashlight attachments that had been strapped to their rifles and helmets, and he deactivated his lightsaber. Nitai pulled out a small imagecaster and held it up, bringing up a projection of the subway tunnel network, with their location marked by a white dot, and their objective marked by a red dot.

"Alright, we'll make our way through these tunnels, we're fairly certain that the droids haven't posted sentries around here, since these tunnels are old and not on many recent maps of the city, but we should still be cautious." Nitai said as he deactivated the imagecaster. "Hound, you'll be taking point with me and Commander Tano." The four clones nodded in response and formed up between the two Padawans, the cones of light that they were projecting in front of them sweeping along the walls and ground as they set off.

"I don't like it down here, tunnels like this always give me the creeps, too many places to set up ambushes." Fidget said nervously as they rounded a corner.

"Don't worry, the clankers would never think that we'd come through this way, and anything that's living down here wouldn't bother a group this large." Blast said before being shushed by Hound.

"Quiet down you two, I don't care if we're the only living things down here, we make as little noise as possible." He said, and the two clones nodded silently in response.

After nearly an hour of trekking through the tunnels, and luckily not managing to meet any droid patrols, they came to their destination, an old subway station that, if their maps were correct, had an exit emerging just near one of the starports.

"Alright, this is it, once we get up there, we've got to get underneath the support structures of the landing pads so that we can disable the explosives. Reports indicate that there should be four of them, one at each corner of the major landing pad, once we take those out, we clear out the port and signal for reinforcements." Corporal Hound explained, the rest of the clones gathered around him and the two Padawans, it had been decided that he would be unofficially in charge of this mission, since he had much more experience with stealth operations.

"It's likely that the explosives will be guarded, so make sure to be careful on your approach, and signal once you've gotten into position, we'll try to take the explosives simultaneously to minimize the risk of discovery." Ahsoka added, after the clones had formed up into their respective squads, Hound, Ahsoka, and Nitai took point and made their way up the ruined stairs.

They emerged in from a blocked off door in the lower level of the main terminal of the starport, thankfully there seemed to be no droid presence, since the building didn't really have any use for the occupying droid forces. One of the walls of the terminal seemed to be a massive window, looking out on the large, main landing pad, where several droid transport ships had landed, and a few handfuls of droids were milling about. In the distance, they could hear the faint sounds of artillery fire, and see the lights of anti-aircraft lasers streaking through the dark, night sky.

"Looks like the diversion is working, they only left a small force to guard the starport." Nitai said to Ahsoka and Hound as they moved from cover to cover, trying to stay out of the line of sight of the droids that sometimes passed by the window. Eventually they came to a doorway which seemed like it had primarily been used for maintenance workers to go out directly onto the landing pad. Once the most recent droid patrol had passed, they made a break for the door, and Ahsoka quickly cut through the lock, causing it to swing open.

"Alright, look around for an access hatch, there should be one nearby." Hound ordered, and the clones immediately scoured the area, quickly discovering a hatch that led down onto the ground below.

The landing pad was actually elevated about ten feet off the ground, and the support structure beneath was a maze of interlocking metal beams and concrete columns, meant to help support the weight of any landing starships. After Ahsoka, Nitai, and the clones had lowered themselves down, making sure to close the hatch behind them to avoid suspicion, they split into their respective groups and began creeping through the tangled metal supports towards their respective targets. Ahsoka, Nitai, and Hound's team were moving together towards the most distant bomb, on the opposite side of the landing pad, whereas the rest of the clones divided themselves up and made their way to their targets. They were about halfway towards the bomb when they received the first signal, from the group that was heading towards the bomb that had been closest to the access hatch, and shortly afterwards they received almost simultaneous signals from the other two teams.

Eventually they caught sight of their objective, a large, rectangular bomb that was surrounded by several B1 and B2 series battle droids. They quickly took cover behind a few steel beams and columns, before sending out the signal to the other teams that they were in position. "We have our target in sight, is everybody prepared?" Nitai whispered into his communicator, receiving a chorus of hushed responses in return. "Alright, we go on my command, and make sure to check your fire, we don't want to take risk with these bombs. On three. One, two, three." He said, and just like on his count, the clones leaned out from their cover, took aim, and began to fire at the droids. Nitai and Ahsoka also dashed out, igniting their lightsabers, and cutting through a pair of B2 droids.

"We're under attack!" One of the droids exclaimed before being nailed in the head by a round from Hawk. The droid numbers quickly began to dwindle, not only were they taken completely by surprise, but the web of metal girder made it difficult for them to determine where the fire was coming from, although even if they had been able to discern the location of the clones, they had much more pressing issues, such as the two young Jedi that were cleaving through their ranks.

"Detonate the whooaaah!" One of the droids had been heading for the bomb in the hopes of activating it, but Nitai extended his hand and pulled it towards him with the Force, slicing it diagonally from hip to shoulder once it came within reach.

Then, just as quickly as it started, the skirmish was over, the quiet seeming almost equally deafening as the sound of blaster fire had been. Nitai suppressed a shiver, the moments during combat had seemed to stretch out for a long time, but looking back, it had only lasted about a minute. "Blast, Fidget, get this bomb deactivated." He said before activating his communicator. "This is Commander Zeama, we're in the process of deactivating the Western bomb, report in."

"Sir, we've finished disarming the Eastern bomb." One clone chimed in over his communicator.

"We're about halfway through disarming the North bomb." Another voice quickly added.

"The South bomb is almost deactivated, sir." The final clone team leader reported in.

"Ok, the droids probably didn't move these bombs through this maze, so look around for any access hatches. They'll probably be near one of the concrete columns, look for any columns that have metal rungs embedded in them to serve as ladders, and the hatch should probably be at the top of those ladders. I'll call in once we've finished disarming our bomb and have found an access hatch, we'll come up simultaneously and begin the process of clearing the starport" Nitai ordered, receiving a trio of affirmative replies in response.

"Alright sir, bomb's defused." Blast called as he and Fidget began to join Hawk and Hound in searching for a nearby access hatch. It didn't take long to find one, since they only really needed to look for metal rungs jutting out of any of the nearby columns.

"I'll take point, Ahsoka, you can take up the rear." Nitai said before feeling a hand placed on his shoulders.

"Hold up, Red, why am I coming up last?" Ahsoka said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh…well…I just figured it might be…better for you." Nitai stammered out, and Ahsoka looked at him quizzically before following his line of sight, towards her skirt. Her face darkened slightly as she realized the implication of what he said.

"I…think I will actually take up the rear this time." She said as Nitai began to climb up the rungs, followed by Hound and the rest of his squad, and then Ahsoka.

"Commander Zeama, reporting in, we're ready to go topside, report in." He whispered into his communicator, receiving a trio of affirmative replies, all of the other squads had found access hatches and were positioned to go up. "Alright, go up and start clearing out any droids you see, we're taking this starport for the Republic."

With that, he opened up the hatch, and poked his head out, finding himself looking directly at a cluster of metallic feet, with four B1 droids pointing blasters down at him.

"Surrender, Jedi." One of the droids ordered, but Nitai grinned.

"You didn't say the magic word." He said before using the force to leap far up above the droids, they raised their blasters, but before they could fire at them, he stretched out his hands and sent a kinetic wave down towards them, knocking them flat on the ground. He ignited his lightsaber just before he landed and quickly bisected two prone droids. As the other droids tried to scramble back to their feet, Hound emerged from the hatch and pulled out his pistol, sending the remaining two droids to the ground, a pair of scorching blaster marks on their heads.

The sounds of blaster fire quickly began to fill the air, as the rest of the clones emerged from their respective hatches and took cover behind assorted crates and loading equipment that were scattered around the landing pad. Ahsoka and Nitai were standing alongside the crates that Hound's squad was using for cover, deflecting droid blaster bolts back at their opponents. "It seems like things are going well." Nitai hollered, and as if on cue, the enter landing pad seemed to shake. They turned in the direction that the tremor had come from, towards a large hangar, whose door was slowly opening. As it opened, it revealed a massive pair of metallic feet, and it kept rising up and up and up, revealing what looked like a massive, thirteen-foot-tall replica of a B2 droid, although it seemed to have a smaller pair of limbs ending in blasters sticking out midway down its torso, and located on its left shoulder was what looked like a missile launcher.

"That is one big droid." Ahsoka said, mirroring Nitai's wide eyed expression as the droid took a step forward, the impact of its foot making the landing pad tremor once again. The droid turned towards the two young Jedi, the closest, and most dangerous, targets. It raised one of its primary limbs, and a gout of flame spurted out.

"Scatter!" Nitai shouted as he and Ahsoka dived in opposite directions, away from the flickering tongue of flame. "Everyone, keep focusing on the normal battle droids, Ahsoka and I will keep this one busy." He shouted, he and Ahsoka nodded to each other before running towards the droid, although they were quickly driven back by a volley of rapid blaster bolts that was sent out from its secondary limbs. It then raised its second main arm, and several large bolts of sparking plasma shot from its wrist launcher.

"I hope that you've got a plan for this, Red!" Ahsoka shouted as she dove out of the way of a spray of plasma.

"Well I've got the outline of a plan. We've got to take out the legs, but other than that I figure we could just improvise!" He said, despite the situation he was smiling widely.

"Let's circle around him, it'll be easier to close in if it doesn't know how to follow!" Ahsoka said as she and Nitai began to circle around the massive droid, slowly working their way in towards it. As they got closer the droid had to resort to using its secondary blaster arms, since it was difficult to aim with its bulkier primary arms now that the two Jedi were so close.

"Now!" Nitai shouted and the two of them dashed forward, each one of them cleaving through one of the droid's legs, causing it to suddenly fall backwards. It tried to raise its arms to fire at them, but now that it was collapsed on its back its shots were much more inaccurate. The two young Padawans grinned at each other before leaping up onto its chest and driving their lightsabers down onto the droid's head in unison, its sensors going dark as it permanently shut down.

Just as they had finished off the massive droid, they also heard the sound of blaster fire from around the landing pad slowly die down as the rest of the droids were brought down by the clones.

"Commanders, it appears that all droid forces have been eliminated." Corporal Hound said as he ran up and saluted the two Padawans who were panting and smiling at each other, proud that they had managed to defeat such an imposing droid.

"How many casualties?" Nitai said as he and Ahsoka leapt down off the droid's chest.

"A few shots to the extremities sir, but nothing crippling or fatal." Hound said, glancing towards a few clones who were leaned up against crates, most of them nursing blaster wounds on their legs, arms, or shoulders.

"We'll call in the reinforcements and signal for a medical transport. You see to the men." Ahsoka ordered. Hound saluted and headed off towards the wounded clones, who were being patched up by some of their comrades. "Headquarters, this is Commander Tano, Commander Zeama and I have secured our objective, requesting reinforcements and a medical transport, we have some wounded clones." Ahsoka spoke into her communicator.

"Roger that sir, sending reinforcements." The clone communications operator responded after a short pause.

"Well, that went about as well as we could hope." Nitai said as he leaned against a few stacked crates.

"Yeah, now let's talk about that 'plan' of yours." Ahsoka said with a wry smirk.

"Oh, don't go dissing my plan, it ended up working." Nitai said preemptively.

"'Go for the legs' is not a plan, are you sure you aren't distantly related to Anakin?" Ahsoka retorted. When the reinforcements finally landed, they found the two Jedi commanders bickering amongst each other, although strangely enough, both of them seemed to be smiling.


End file.
